Ocean Eyes
by The Secret Life Of A Writer
Summary: Nico A x OC Percy Jackson has has a sister, and what happens when his best friend, Nico Di Angelo, falls for Her? Or vice versa? Add in a little plot, a little prophecy, and some of the god's. Ignores The Lost Hero, but compatible with the last Olympian.
1. Chapter 1

Poseidon looked out over his brother's domain, his eyes creased with worry. next to him his brother appeared calm, but Poseidon knew he was simply hiding the tension beneath his eyes.

"If Aphrodite is correct"Poseidon said, His voice gravelly from the lack of usage the last few days. "They may engineer, without being aware of, one of the largest disasters we have see since Paris and Helen."

His brother sighed. "I can try to keep him away from your daughter- But I have my doubts. He's much like me in that way. When will your daughter arrive at camp? A few months from now?"

"Tomorrow"

"Impossible! When Poseidon remained silent, his brother flew into a rage- Which the sea god was used to.

"How can you do this? You've doomed us all! Why couldn't you control yourself? Hasn't breaking our pact been ENOUGH for you? And on top of that, you hide her existence from everyone else, you only tell me because I am one of the most trustworthy god's out there! And yet you give me no time to prepare! And on top of that, We need to figure out whats wrong with out children. ALL of them"

Poseidon fixed his brother with eyes as stormy as a hurricane. "I had no choice, I did what I must to protect her. I understand there is something wrong with them, I understand that I am also exposing her to this disastrous moment. I UNDERSTAND brother!"

With that, He disappeared, leaving a cloud of Salty air, and an Infuriated Hades clenching his fists, his brow furrowed.

"Did you hear that?" Annabeth Chase sat up and looked at her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, whose chest she'd been leaning against moments before. They had been relaxing at the creek, when they'd heard a shrill scream.

He got to his feet and pulled her along with, noticing her hand clenched around her dagger, Percy wondered where she'd drawn it from, she had no armor or sheath for it. Then he decided that letting his thoughts go down the route was probably dangerous, and that it'd be wiser to answer her question before she clobbered him with it. "We should probably go check it out. Hopefully Mrs. O'Leary hasn't brought another friend with her" He held back a smirk, he remembered when Mrs. O'leary decided she needed some extra Hell-Hound friends, but that was when Annabeth and her cabin mates had been scared to death.

They jogged to the volley Ball court, still holding hands, to find the Aphrodite girls clustered despairingly around each other, while Clarisse and several of her siblings holding a Volley ball, each rolling there eyes at each other.

"Clarisse what's going on?" She called out, releasing Percy's hand and ignoring his pout. She decided against asking the Aphrodite cabin, because they tended to lecture Annabeth about straitening her hair and wearing better (and more) makeup before saying anything useful.

Percy hung back, looking for something, well... less girly to do, or better yet, male company. (After all, being a war hero in a crowd of girls swarming him made him nervous, especially around his girlfriend). While Annabeth and Clarisse were making fun of Drew, one of Aphrodites snobbiest daughter's, for screaming because she noticed she had a split end in her hair, he spotted Grover playing his pipes in the strawberry fields, and headed over.

"Hey G-Man" Percy sat next to the satyr. "We need to talk, dude"

Grover looked at him, while pulling his reed pipes out of his mouth. "Listen Perce. Before you get all bothered about it, look on the bright side, yeah I know you've lived your whole life without knowing about her and being an only child. She seems pretty nice, but things can only head up, right?"

Percy, whose eyebrows were traveling higher and higher up bis forehead while Grover rambled on, looked confused. He interrupted, " Wait, what? I was just going to tell you that tomorrow we're going to be playing basketball against Nico and Jake. And that the son of the Lord Of the Dead and Son of Apollo beating us wouldn't look to good on our regime. What were YOU talking about? I don't have a sibling... Do I?"

Grover Paled. "Oh Percy, you know what, I think I confused you with someone else. Soo many new addition to camp. You know what? I was supposed to meet Juniper today! Oh look at the time" Grover looked down at his wrist, pretending to look at a watch. "I am soo late! Well... See ya!" He scampered off, leaving a confuse Percy behind.

"Percy! Percy, wake up!" Annabeth Chase shook her sleeping boyfriend desperately, marveling his ability to sleep through every crisis they faced. Honsestly, she thought, even Clovis woke up for this - But her hero couldn't wake up. (not that she ever referred to say anything this loud to her boyfriend) "SEAWEED BRAIN! GET UP!"

He mumbled something incoherent and opened his green eyes, blinking in an adorably lost way at her. But, she told herself sharply, this was no time to lose herself in how cute he could be when he was sleepy.

"Percy get up and get Riptide, There's an ARMY of monsters outside!" She yelled at last.

He sprang out of bed, grabbed his trusty pen from his nightstand, uncapped it, and stared at her as the sword elongated. "Annabth, you do know there are borders that protect camp, right? There's no way chance in Hades those freaks can come in"

Grabbing his hand, she pulled him out of the cabin, he froze in shock while she dragged him out of the cabin. It was raining, as thought he bad weather had broken through the camp's enchantments.

"Percy, please hurry! There after a demigod!" She screamed at him over the storm, which intensified as they spoke.

When they reached the top of the hill, they both stood still. The horde of monsters were _surrounding_ the demigod they'd been chasing, and although the Camp Half-Blood fighters were trying to reach her, it seemed doubtful they would get there in time. Archer's From Apollos cabin were trying to simultaneously shoot arrows at the monsters nearest her and protect their fellow warriors, while Clarisse and Malcolm were leading flank attacks.

Being the super- powerful son of the sea god, Percy did two things- First he wished his friend Nico Di Angelo was there - Having the son of the Lord Of The Dead on your side in battle was invaluable. Secondly, he called on the sea To help him. As stood on the hill, he summoned the waters of the Long Island Sound to rise and engulf the monsters, while doing his best to form air bubbles around his Fellow demigods to protect them and as well because of the lack of air. And although he had gained in Muscle and strength since he'd found out about the powers his parentage had given him, the effort to coordinate so many efforts crashed upon him without warning. And at this moment his work was completed, he fell into Annabeth's arms, unconscious.

Percy woke up in his cabin several hours later, to find Annabeth spooning Ambrosia into his mouth - Again.

"You idiot!" She shrieked, before hugging him so tightly he thought his head was going to fall off. "I'm so Glad you're Okay" She whispered into the crock of his neck, and he smiled, before realizing Chiron was sitting on the opposite side, watching them.

"Annabeth, If you could get off Percy for a few minutes" His eyes twinkled. "There is something I need to tell you both"

Blushing, Annabeth quickly kissed Percy on the cheek and settles next to him, her legs crossed.

"I'm sure you are both wondering why I insisted ALL campers help one demigod, Especially because there were so many monsters out there last night. The reason is because she has quite an aura - And I believe she may be implicated in an important prophecy i have been informed about earlier last night. And do not ask, because I am NOT positive, and I'm not supposed to know about it anyway. Percy, I want to thank you for what you did. No one was killed last night except monsters. A few campers were injured, but are expected to be okay. The girl however, is still unconscious. She has injuries that date back to days ago. We cannot find out more until she wakes. Not knowing her parentage is bothering me most - We could heal her faster if we knew what she responds to. But she should heal as well, given time"

Percy leaned back against the pillows, relieved. Chiron stood and bent towards the door, he turned back, "Oh, and Percy" He said. "I just wanted to tell you that your friend Nico will be Arriving tomorrow. See if you can atleast try to keep some of the girls away, alright? Well... Have a nice day!" He smiled, and turned, galloping away.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _She turned around, and saw a hellhound bearing down on her, its fangs bared. Dodging, she swung at it with the dagger in her hand, and it dissolved into dust...As she fled down an alley, another came lunging at her throat, and she…_

The unconscious girl suddenly sprang up, panting and sweating. Disoriented, she tried to penetrate the darkness, and realized she was lying in a bed in a large room, which was simply furnished and clearly rarely inhabited. Relaxing against the pillows, she turned her head and saw a glass filled with a golden liquid on the nightstand beside her. Distrustfully ignoring the drink, she got out of bed and staggered towards the doorway on unsteady legs. Opening it, she heard voices from down the hall, and carefully, step by step, made her way towards them.

"…Something isn't right here," she heard a deep voice, definitely a man's, say.

"I don't know who has the power to do this, or who it's benefiting. I mean, in a way, we don't mind it, but why wouldn't we be at least told about this? And Chiron, I'm worried about the implications. Is this more god-like, or similar to what Artemis' Hunters experience? Because it seems to be the kind of thing that..." The second voice was feminine and younger, but before she could finish her sentence, the injured girl walked into the room.

Annabeth jumped up when she saw the girl walk in, and helped her sit down on a couch. "How do you feel?" she asked. "Did you drink the nectar I left by your bed? What's your name?"

"My name is Carter," the girl answered, her voice somewhat hoarse. "And no, I didn't drink it. Why would you drink something without knowing what it is?"

Chuckling, Chiron poured out a glass of nectar from the pitcher next to his chair and handed it to her. She took it and drank it, gasping in surprise at the taste. It reminded her of the brownies she and her mother used to bake together – she could taste the melty chocolate chips they used to put in them.

Realizing that the room was somewhat cold, Annabeth tossed some more wood into the fire, and examined the new arrival in the light. The girl was slender, not very tall – her build was that of one of Aphrodite's children. Her features would certainly lend this supposition more weight – they were delicate, and she was quite pretty, even without any makeup and with exhaustion written all over her face. Her eyes were turquoise, sparkling in the light, and framed with thick black lashes. Her jeans were frayed and tatty, and there was dried blood on the shoulder of her t-shirt, which had XXI Forever written across it.

Carter, meanwhile, was examining both Annabeth and the being named Chiron. Clearly, he was a centaur – why she wasn't exactly shocked to realize this, she didn't know. He seemed kindly enough, but he intimidated her somewhat anyway. In Carters's opinion, Annabeth was someone you wanted to be friends with – her steely gray eyes showed determination and intelligence, and her arms were slender but muscular enough that she would be a proficient fighter. Her faded orange t-shirt said Camp Half-Blood on it.

"Camp Half-Blood," Carter murmured. "Strange name, huh?"

"It's what I am," Annabeth replied, "and so are you. Half-blood is the term for someone who is half human and half…"

"Half god," Carter breathed. She could feel the pieces of the puzzle coming together – she was intelligent enough to realize that the presence of a centaur indicated some kind of mythology – either Greek or Roman. She pinched herself, and winced.

"You aren't dreaming," Chiron asserted. "It's a common enough reaction, though. The real question is: Who is your godly parent? Do you have a mortal mother or father? Where are you from?"

"California." When Annabeth raised her eyebrows, Carter clarified. "I'm from California – the Bay Area, actually. My mother is … human. She's a fashion designer, but she's never really told me much about my father." She took a breath, and felt around in her pocket for a lip balm, which she applied to her chapped lips before continuing. "She told me he died before I was born. She said he was an extremely sweet, funny, caring and intelligent guy. She met him in New York – at a beach called Montauk, I think, a long time ago. He never married her, but she insists he loved her." At the mention of the beach, Annabeth let out a small gasp, but Carter ignored her. "I've never seen any pictures of him – I know she has one, but she never lets me see it. She wears it on a locket around her neck. The only thing she told me about him is that he has green eyes – like mine, but with more green than turquoise in them."

Annabeth and Chiron stared at each other. "No way," Annabeth said, standing up. "I know what you're thinking, Chiron, and it isn't possible. Carter, how old are you?"

"I'm sixteen – and what are you thinking?"

They both ignored her.

"It's possible, Annabeth," Chiron said. "She's two years younger than Percy, but it is possible that –"

Annabeth gasped. "He met them on the same beach! I mean, that's just…How will Sally feel?"

"She's an understanding woman, she won't feel bad about it. I wonder how Percy will react, though."

"Well, we aren't even sure! She hasn't even been…" Annabeth's voice trailed off as a bluish light filled the room.

Startled by the light, Lily glanced around and gasped. There was a trident above her head, with bluish light swirling around it and illuminating it.

Chiron bowed his head. "It is determined," he said quietly. "You are the daughter of Poseidon, the Sea God and the Earth shaker."

A/N: Okay, so I had no idea how to end this chapter, so I just…ended it. I know it's lame (sigh). Anyway, Nico's showing up next chapter (hopefully) and Percy meets his new sister. Please read/review, I really appreciate it!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hugs all around for everyone who subscribed! Thank you so much – it means a lot to me. Please take the time to review, I really would love feedback, comments, questions – anything!

Chapter 3

Lily followed Annabeth out into the rain a few minutes later, her mind reeling. After telling her that her father was one of the three most powerful gods out there, Chiron sent her to go find her brother (yeah, at like 3 in morning – would he be pleased to see her?) and told her that he would explain everything else. And Annabeth was clearly upset with her – but for what? Lily scoffed to herself. It wasn't as if she could control who her father was. Hopefully her brother wasn't as crazy as the blonde girl stomping along in front of her.

"Cabin Three," Annabeth snapped. "You'll be staying here. He's inside and probably asleep – try not to bother him _too_ much, okay?" And she spun around on her heel and walked away.

Rolling her eyes, Lily pushed the door open and stepped inside, eager to get out of the cold rain. Inside the cabin it was much warmer – a saltwater fountain containing several gold coins gurgled away to itself (A/N: yes, I know Percy broke it, but I felt like having it repaired because it was awesome), the abalone walls had a glow of their own that illuminated the room, and several colorful horse-fish dangled from the ceiling. There was a figure rolled up in blankets on the farthest bunk bed from the doorway, and taking a deep breath, Lily walked towards it.

"Hey, wake up," she whispered, standing by the bunk. When he didn't respond, she sighed and crawled into the bunk bed next to his, wishing that she was back home.

Lily woke up the next morning when she felt someone shaking her shoulder – the shoulder that had been wounded and that wasn't fully healed. Yelping in pain, she jerked a way from the hand holding her and shot up from the bed, banging her head on the bunk above.

"Hey, did I hurt you? I'm sorry, are you okay? I'm Percy." The dark-haired boy opposite her stepped back, allowing her to get off the bed.

"Hi, I'm Lily, and it's okay, it'll get better soon." She bit her lip, wondering how to explain to him that she was his half-sister.

Percy ran a hand through his hair and raised an eyebrow at her. "So, what are you doing here? Did you need something?"

Oh, this was going to be awkward. "No, I…I…" Frustrated with herself, Lily blurted out, "I'm staying here."

He gave her an incredibly confused and incredulous look that clearly said, "WHAT?"

"I – I'm your…I'm your sister. My father is Poseidon too." She shrank away from him a little as she said it, waiting for his reaction. Even though he was still looking quite sleepy, she could sense the power and strength radiating from him, and if his reaction was anything like Annabeth's, she would need to duck and cover – fast.

He stood there for a few minutes, continuing to look as if she had clubbed him over the head with something hard. "Oh," he said. "How old are you again? I'm eighteen."

"Sixteen," she said, still poised to run while trying to hide her anxiety.

Percy smirked at her suddenly. "You know, you can stop acting like I'm going to attack you. We Sea-God types tend to be moody, yeah, but I'm not going to attack you. Having a sister would be kind of fun, actually. So, where are you from? Has anyone taught you how to spar or anything yet? Wait a minute…" Comprehension seemed to dawn on his face. "It was YOU we rescued from all those monsters yesterday, wasn't it? Were you hurt badly? How did you survive for so long?"

Closing her eyes in relief, Lily smiled at him. "I don't know how I survived – luck? And no, no one's really taught me anything so far. I've only met Annabeth…" she trailed off.

"Really? She's awesome, isn't she? She's my girlfriend – did she show you around camp and everything? She did for me."

"No, she doesn't like me very much, actually."

"Are you kidding? Well, it's okay. She's kind of picky and territorial about her friends – she didn't like me at all when we first met either. It took me years to get on her good side." Chuckling when Lily pulled a face, he continued, "She'll probably get to like you faster just because we're related. And she's not really that bad – just give her a chance, and she'll give you one. Why don't you get dressed, I'll show you around."

Lily blinked at him. "But I didn't bring anything with me, so how should I get dressed?"

He pointed to an orange bag that was sitting just inside the doorway. "Thank the Stoll brothers for that – Connor and Travis. They're from the Hermes cabin – they will steal anything they can get their hands on. But whenever some new arrives, they always put together a bag of clothes for them. The bags are magical, by the way, so the clothes and things that are in there will magically alter themselves to fit your size and style. Gift from Aphrodite last year. I'll see you in a bit – I'm going to hit the showers. They're right through this door, by the way," he said, indicating a door at the back of the cabin.

Opening the bag, Lily's mouth dropped open when she pulled out an old, tattered shirt that was clearly too large for her. But before she could even complain, it shimmered in her hands and turned into a white sundress. Smiling, she chose what she wanted, packed everything else into the cupboard next to the bed, and got dressed.

Walking around camp with Percy, Lily discovered that she really liked her new brother. He was funny, sweet, and pretty smart too. They interacted easily, and were just walking by the sparring area when they heard a girl scream.

"That's Drew's voice," Percy groaned. Seeing his sister's confusion, he elaborated. "She's the current head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, and she's a pain. She starts screaming over every little thing – because she lost her favorite nail polish, because her hair has one curl in it…you get the idea. But she can charmspeak, so you'd better work on your will power, because she will eat away at it."

Lily rolled her eyes – Drew sounded like that type of girl she despised. But when the commotion grew, she grabbed Percy's arm and ran towards the noise to see what was going on. There was a huge crowd around a single tall, olive-skinned boy, who was trying to fight through all the people.

Percy started laughing. "My best friend's here," he chuckled. "I'll introduce you."

Lily stood on her toes, trying to get a better look. "Why's everyone mobbing him?"

"Well, all the girls think he's one of the hottest guys here – after me of course" – Lily snorted – "And he hasn't been here for four months. If you've noticed, that crowd is entirely female. The thing is, he's really picky when it comes to girls, and so he's never had a serious girlfriend before, but every girl thinks she'll have a chance with him. Here he comes."

Stepping back, Lily watched the two boys step towards each other and man-hug each other. While they were laughing over some private joke, she took the opportunity to glance over her brother's friend. The new boy was tall, around the same height as her brother – maybe 5'10" or so? She grinned to herself; she didn't like boys who were too tall because she was only 5'4", and she always felt tiny next to them. He was clearly muscular, as his black muscle shirt showed off, but he wasn't overly buff. Silky dark hair flopped over his forehead, and a dangerous looking sword was belting around his hips. He had a gorgeous smile, she thought, blushing, and the most beautiful dark eyes she had yet to see on a guy.

"…want to introduce you to someone," she heard Percy say, and instantly pretended to be watching the birds flying overhead.

"Hey, Lily," Percy said, seizing her arm and turning her to face them, "This is my friend, Nico di Angelo. He's the son of Hades, but he's a pretty nice guy most of the time, unless he's channeling his inner Grim Reaper or something."

Lily paled a little at the mention of Hades, but laughed at the way Percy described his friend's moods. Nico extended a hand towards her, and shook it when she placed her hand in his, noticing as she did so that his was larger, rougher, and stronger than hers.

He gave her a smile. "Nice to meet you," he said, squeezing her hand before dropping it. She blushed and lowered her eyes to the ground, hoping she wasn't being too obvious.

"You don't look much like Percy, though," Nico mused. "Think maybe Poseidon's daughters look better than his sons, or is Percy just abnormally ugly?" He laughed and ducked when Percy tried to punch him playfully. "Hey – basketball, we should get going. Lily, do you play?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I'm not into sports, really – and I'm a bit short for basketball. You'd probably just lose if I played on your team."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You sure? I can improve your game if you'd like."

When Percy nudged her arm and nodded at her to accept, she sighed. "Okay, what time?"

"Three," Percy said. "And, uh…"

Laughing at her brother's indecision, Lily took matters out of his hands. "You two go catch up on whatever, I'm going to go find Clarisse – she sounds interesting. See you around!" And she walked away, her white dress swishing around her knees, blushing every time she remembered that sweet smile and those dark eyes.

A/N: So, did you like it? I was going to make Nico a playboy, but then I decided that I've had enough of playboy Nico and it's time to do something different. Do you think it's moving too fast or too slow? I am now going to beg shamelessly for reviews: PLEEEEASE REVIEW! I will love you forever and bake you brownies! (fanfic brownies, I guess….). And my updating schedule is weird because I'm still writing this and I like to post whenever I finish a chapter…so I guess you can tell when I'm being lazy…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Thunder rumbled on Mount Olympus, as Zeus paced back and forth before his throne, furious. The Olympian Council was gathered, and once again the room nearly shimmered with power.

"It's not a real prophecy, you know," Aphrodite said softly, trying to keep Zeus' anger from exploding in her direction. "It's just this…gut feeling I have. It could be nothing. It's quite possible he feels nothing for her, but I can't say anything for certain. Hades and his children are extremely adept at hiding their thoughts and emotions…they're hard to read, even for me."

Zeus snarled at her. "And how many times, Aphrodite, have ANY of your hunches been incorrect? Maybe once if we're lucky?" He whirled around suddenly to face Poseidon. "And I want to know just what else my brother has been hiding from me. More children? A plot to usurp my throne?"

"You are being foolish," Poseidon said quietly. "We have been over this before – I have no desire to take your throne. And I have only these two children – other than them, I honored our pact. And we don't yet have any proof that they pose any threat to the balance of power we have here. I fail to see what your concerns are."

"Yeah, we've got bigger fish to fry," Ares interrupted. "What about Kronos – if it is him? He can't be strong enough to attack again, but he's the only one who could work something like this. We need to prepare for –"

"Relax, bud," Apollo interposed. "We still don't know if Kronos can lift himself from the mud." He chuckled at his rhyming, while his sister rolled her eyes at him. "And besides, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. I don't think the kids have even realized that they've stopped aging from the moment they stepped inside camp."

"Isn't it obvious?" Athena finally spoke, and all the gods quit their bickering and turned to face her. "As our children age, their bodies grow into the powers they have been given. They physically gain the strength to wield the abilities they inherit from us. If they are stopped from aging, they are stopped from maturing physically, and this will make many of them easier to defeat in battle. And at the same time, if we keep them from entering camp until they are eighteen or so, the monsters outside will tear them to pieces. It's actually quite clever, in a diabolical, twisted way. We have no method of protecting our children – they have to take care of themselves, and each other."

"And seeing how well we get along, there is very little chance of that happening," Artemis sighed. "I think I'll be sending my Hunters back to camp soon. It's very possible there is a military offensive headed our way – I just don't know who it'll be headed by. My girls can help train the campers – they are experts at immortal fighting."

"Hades," Zeus growled. "I would bet anything that he is behind this."

"Brother," Poseidon groaned, "Hades is not foolish enough to attempt anything like this. He is powerful, yes, but not stupid. And besides, his son –"

"You will keep your daughter away from his son," Zeus ordered. "I hope Aphrodite is wrong, but she very rarely is, and we don't need multiple catastrophes on our hands. Aphrodite, you said they have no feelings for each other, right?"

The goddess of love shook her head, her soft waves of her swaying with the motion. "No, I simply said that I cannot tell how the boy feels. The girl, however…"

"The girl what?" Poseidon demanded. "Finish your sentence!"

"She's a lost case, dude," Apollo laughed, examining his reflection in his Ray-Ban sunglasses. "Head over heels, but with a temper. This should be fun to watch." He started humming Love Story by Taylor Swift tunelessly while Zeus hurled a thunderbolt at a nearby fountain, smashing it into rubble.

That evening, at Mount Olympus, Chiron stood up to speak before the campers made offerings to the gods. "I have two quick announcements: Firstly, we have a new camper, as most of you noticed yesterday. Her name is Lily Shaw, she is from California, and she is a daughter of Poseidon." Murmurs broke out throughout the camp as teenagers craned their necks to get a good look at the girl sitting next to Percy Jackson, whose dark wavy hair was conveniently hiding her face. "Secondly, I would like to see all senior camp members at a meeting tonight at the Big House. Enjoy your dinner." As he sat down, the campers filed up to scrape offerings into the braziers for the gods.

Percy scooted into line next to Annabeth, leaving Lily to her conversation with Clarisse. "Hey," he breathed into her ear.

She smiled at him. "Hi, Percy."

"So, Lily seems to think you don't like her very much."

She fixed him with her story gray eyes. "Do you?"

"Yeah, she's fantastic," he replied. "But really, why didn't you like her?"

"Well, just because I thought you wouldn't like her. She doesn't seem bad, really, but a bit girly – more of an Aphrodite than a Big Three, in my opinion."

Her boyfriend squeezed her hand and laughed. "Nah, you should've seen her today. She made friends with Clarisse in like five minutes – just because Clarisse was impressed that she walked into the Ares cabin and managed to avoid all the land mines without even looking for them or having to dodge. I mean, even I nearly got hit by one of those once." He ducked when she tried to slap him, grabbing her hands. "And they both played basketball against me and Nico – Jake and Grover decided to watch – and they were winning till we realized that Clarisse was using her child of Ares thing to get projectiles to go where she wanted them to, and then Nico started shadow-traveling all over the court, and we won."

They reached the end of the line, scraped some food into the flames, and stood off to the side for a moment.

"Just please make an effort with her, will you?" Percy whispered. "She's actually really sweet. Give her a chance."

Annabeth nodded. "We should get back. I'll see you at the meeting tonight, alright? And bring Lily with you – she should be there even if she isn't a senior here." She kissed him quickly and took her seat at the Athena table, ignoring the catcalls from Apollo's children.

Lily picked at her food. She wasn't hungry – she was homesick. Memories of her mother, of her old friends, of her dog, and of her older brother (well, her half-brother now) crowded in on her, making her feel ill. Glancing around, she saw that no one was watching her – Percy and Annabeth were having a moment (she snickered to herself), and the other cabins were engrossed in other things. Slipping off her sandals, which would make a loud noise against the marble floor, she stole away from the eating area in bare feet and slipped between the trees in the woods.

Following the sound of running water, she found a creek making its way through the woods. She smiled at the naiads who waved at her from the water, and slid her feet into the cool water. She was picking at the grass next to her when she heard what sounded like a large dog snuffling around nearby. Standing up, Lily smoothed grass off her dress and moved quietly towards the sound, which stopped as she approached. Pushing aside some low tree branches, she found herself face-to-face with a fully grown timber wolf.

Terrified, she stepped backwards, and took another step as it followed her, baring its teeth. She opened her mouth to scream when a hand covered her mouth.

"Quiet," a voice hissed in her ear, holding her still with its other hand. "Don't startle him and I'll get him to back off."

The hands holding her didn't relax or move, but the wolf gradually moved away, until he lost interest completely and disappeared between the trees. The person holding her released her, and Lily turned around to find herself standing less than an inch away from Nico.

Before she had completely registered who she was talking to, she found herself giving voice to her shock. "There are WOLVES in here? Is that fricking normal?"

"Nah, the wolves are mine," he said. "Son of Hades – I attract carnivores. But there are monsters in here, yeah."

"How are you so blasé about that? Doesn't it bother you that we could be dead right now? Is no one else freaked out about this?"

Nico just raised his eyebrows. "Well, everyone else is used to it. I mean, even the Aphrodite kids don't panic about the woods and you're Poseidon's daughter, so I don't think you should –"

She scoffed at him. "Oh, okay. So just because my dad is some powerful dude holding a trident who controls 70% of the earth's surface doesn't mean that I have to be like him! Why does everyone here always look at me like I'm a loose cannon or I'm not what they expect? I'm just me! I've spent my whole life not even knowing who my father is, and all of a sudden I'm supposed to be just like him? I've never even MET him!" Blinking away the angry tears in her eyes, she stormed away.

Pushing her way between two tall trees, she leaned against one of them, succumbing to her tears after she was sure she had lost him.

"Hey," a quiet voice said. Wiping her eyes and turning, Lily shot up when she saw Nico looking at her with concern, standing right behind her. "You okay? Can I help?"

"Leave me alone," she snapped. "You've done enough."

Her anger mounted when he simply moved closer. Nico took her elbow in his hand, but as he tried to pull her closer, the rage she was feeling overcame the tingles that his touch produced, and suddenly a strong spray of seawater emerged from nowhere as she felt a powerful tug in her gut. The pain overpowered her, and she heard Nico yelling as the water crashed down on him. Overwhelmed, she gave in to the darkness eating at the corners of her vision.

A/N: See, an update! Sorry if I'm boring anyone, I tend to ramble but I'll try not to! Thank you very very very much to everyone who subscribed and Favorited my story or me as an author, as well as everyone who reviewed!, I love you all and see you soon!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Before I let all of you read this chapter, I wanted to let you know that although I declared that this fic will ignore The Lost Hero, I decided that Leo was too funny to ignore, and I might bring Piper in later. I'm sorry for all you fans of Jason, but I don't have plans for him yet – if you would really like for me to include him, please let me know and I'll stick him in. Thanks and see you at the end! (of the chapter)

Chapter 5

Blinking as her vision swam before her eyes, Carter focused on the room she was in and realized that she was back in Cabin Three. Annabeth was sitting with her, holding a bowl and spoon in her hand.

"How do you feel?" Athena's daughter asked, putting her hand against Carter's forehead.

"Water," Carter croaked. She gulped it down when Annabeth handed her a glass, and, finding it beyond her power to speak, raised her eyebrows and hoped her eyes conveyed what she wanted them to.

"Well, you and Nico both survived, but it was close." Annabeth leaned against the bedpost and stretched her legs out, so that her feet were near Carter's. "You lost your temper – it's nothing new, I mean, your father being the god of earthquakes and hurricanes and whatnot. But since you'd never experienced your power before, you got a little…carried away. It was worse for Nico than you – he grabbed you and shadow-traveled you both to this cabin, but the effort drained him pretty badly, considering that he'd been pummeled by the water and then nearly drowned. He's still unconscious, as far as I know. Percy's sitting with him."

Carter closed her eyes and slumped backwards. She hadn't meant to hurt him – she'd just totally lost control when he'd implied that she wasn't what he expected her to be – what he wanted her to be.

"He was still conscious when Percy found you two just inside the doorway when he came out of the shower," Annabeth continued. "Carter, don't feel too bad, but he was bleeding pretty badly. He'd cut his shoulder on something. He told Seaweed Brain to tell you that it's not your fault and not to blame yourself, and then he passed out. And, about the meeting last night that you missed: Basically, there's some sort of spell over camp that you stop aging the moment you cross its borders for the first time, and it was implemented this summer. No one knows who did it, but the gods and Chiron think it's Kronos – they're just not telling us." She rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly, and fed Carter another spoonful of ambrosia when she noticed the younger girl's eyes closing. "They think we'll be attacked soon," she murmured.

"Train…me…didn't want…to…hurt..." Carter breathed, falling asleep.

Annabeth smiled and stood up. She put the unfinished ambrosia on the table and stepped out of the cabin. She banged on the red-painted door of the Ares cabin and yelled at Clarisse to go sit with the sleeping girl in Cabin Three, ignoring the protests of all the sleeping Ares campers, and then jogged down to Cabin Thirteen, where Percy and Chiron had taken Nico.

The obsidian walls were illuminated by the green Greek flames burning outside the cabin. They made the skull above the door sneer down at her, and she stepped quickly inside the cabin, shuddering.

"Annabeth!" Percy called her over, pulling her down into the chair next to him. He, Will Solace, and Leo Valdez from the Hephaestus cabin were all sitting around the fire. She decided to worry about why Leo was there later – all she knew about him was that it was rumored he may be replacing Jake Mason as the counselor for Hephaestus. Nico was lying on his bed, shirtless and terribly pale. There was a bandage on his shoulder, but she could see blood seeping slowly through it.

"He looks awful, doesn't he?" Leo ran his hand through his unruly hair. "Man, and all that time I thought that crazy Tía did bad things to me – jalapeno juice is bad for the eyes, people. Really bad. But, I mean, he looks like he's been –" He stopped when Annabeth shot him one of those shut-up-or-I-will-spear-you-with-my-boyfriend's-sword-right-now looks.

"Will he wake up soon?" she asked Will, clutching her boyfriend's hand tightly.

"We need him to," Will sighed. "They're going to start planning the camp's defenses tomorrow – I think we're in a lot more trouble than they're telling us. We need him for that. I just don't know how badly the seawater she dumped on him affected him – all the Big Three types are more sensitive to each other's domains than we normal demigods are. I mean, look at Percy – there's a reason he rarely flew in planes, and why he was so terrified in the Underworld. It's because you're in the power of a god who is not necessarily friendly towards your father. It's scary, honestly. If he doesn't wake up in an hour, we're going to have to find a better healer than me."

They sat in silence for a few minutes – well, silence except for Leo mumbling to himself in Spanish and building a small tower out of several sharp daggers that Nico had left on a table. They all turned their heads when the door opened, and Annabeth and Percy stood up immediately when a small figure stumbled through the entrance.

"Carter!" Annabeth dragged the exhausted girl towards the group and deposited her on the foot of Nico's bed (because there were no chairs left). "WHAT are you doing here? How did you get past Clarisse?"

"She's in the bathroom," Carter answered, her voice soft from tiredness. "How is he?" Her face drained of whatever color it had left when she saw his limp form.

"Okay," Will replied, smiling encouragingly. "I think it's more shock than anything – judging by the scars all over him, he's had a lot worse than that cut on his shoulder. In fact –"

They closed their mouths as Nico sat up fluidly, going from unconscious to fully alert in less than ten seconds. "Hey guys," he muttered, reaching beneath the pillow and pulling the necklace he'd stored under it over his head. He looked up and saw Carter sitting near his feet, blushing furiously and trying not to stare at his muscled and bare chest.

"Percy, where's my shirt?"

Leo cracked up. "Dude, you nearly died, and the first thing you want is your shirt? What are you smokin', man? You're weirder than my nutty aunt, dude!"

Annabeth winced, expecting Hades' son to attack Leo, but instead Nico just chuckled and snatched the shirt Percy threw him from the air.

"I'm sorry." Carter's voice was so quiet that they almost didn't hear her. "I didn't mean to hurt you or anything, I just lost control and –"

"It's cool," he interrupted. Then he grinned at her. "You forget whose son I am – you can't kill me so easily." His dark eyes found her sea-green ones, and they stared at each other. He was captivated with the swirling colors in her eyes and the blush that was creeping up her neck, and saw her fighting to break the eye contact with him.

"Carter," Will interposed, "You and Percy should get back to your cabins. Apparently we overestimated the danger you both were in. See you all at five tomorrow morning." Snickering at Leo when Hephaestus' son groaned at the mention of that ungodly hour, Will walked out of the cabin.

Annabeth and Carter left next, since both of them were yawning widely enough to swallow a minotaur.

"So, Nico, how're you really feeling?" Percy asked, exchanging smirks with Leo as Nico stood and stretched.

"Okay," he muttered. "Can you help me out with the whole her trying to drown me thing? Like, can you put some sort of water-repelling shield on me or something?"

"Dude, he's the SON of Poseidon, not the freaking god himself," Leo laughed, grabbing a bag of chips from Nico's stash of food. "Besides, what did you do to her to make her try to kill you anyway?"

"Like she did it on purpose," Percy snapped. "I've only known her for like a day, but I know she wouldn't hurt a fly. She probably lost control, that's all."

Nico mussed his hair with one hand, giving Percy an embarrassed look. "Honestly, I sort of…told her that Aphrodite's kids are braver than she is," he mumbled.

Leo crowed at the ceiling with amusement. "That's it, Nico, you better call up your old man and start making agreements for when you die, 'cause she's probably out to get you."

"Do you really think that though?" Percy questioned his friend. He understood how hurt Carter must have been – it was pretty obvious to him that she had a crush on Nico.

"Well, not really, but I don't know her very well, do I? And she looks like the type to be terrified by anything – she looks like a daughter of Aphrodite, and I kind of slipped up. But then again, she got really upset when I said that, so who knows."

"Yeah, she is actually mucho beautiful, dude," Leo piped up. "Think she likes Hephaestus men, Percy? Smart guys, nice sense of humor, good with our hands…" He waggled his eyebrows after the last comment, and Percy punched in the arm.

"No dirty jokes about my sister! And we'd better get going. Later, man," he said, clapping Nico on the back and hauling Leo out the door with him. He grinned to himself the moment he was outside – he had seen Nico's eyes darken when Leo mentioned dating Lily. Oh, he couldn't wait to tell her…or maybe he'd better not. He'd ask Annabeth first.

(The next morning….)

Chiron sat at the head of the table and eyed all the hopelessly sleepy faces around him. Clovis was snoring on the floor, having rolled right out of his chair. The Valdez boy seemed to have "borrowed" one of Nico's Stygian iron daggers (clearly Leo didn't know how dangerous those were to anyone not of the Underworld) and was sawing absently at the table with it while his eyelids drooped. Sitting with a whirring laptop balanced on her knees and a sleeping Percy's head on her shoulder, Annabeth was already drawing up battle plans and old strategies. Clarisse, Drew, Katie, Butch, Pollux, Lou Ellen, the Stoll brothers, Carter, Will and more were there, but someone was missing…Chiron sighed when he figured it out. Doubtless Nico had slept in, knowing that most of the campers were too scared of him to wake him in the early morning, and that those who weren't afraid of him were too busy sleeping to do anything about it.

Oh, well. Best to start without him then, but they would have to get him to review all their plans later on. There really was no one like the son of Hades to help plan out how to kill monsters, Chiron reflected. He nodded at Clarisse.

She slammed her bronze knife on the table loudly. "Alright, cupcakes! Wake up!" Glowering at Carter when the dark-haired girl giggled, she snarled, "NOW! We have a lot to do. Annabeth, push Percy onto the floor, will you? Valdez, quit killing the table." Flicking her wrist, she spread a map of Camp Half-Blood across the large table. "We need to spread ourselves out across camp, so that we're in areas where our power is strongest and we can command the camp newbies. Got it? I want everyone to make a quick list, in order, of the three places they think they could work best. And we'll be in pairs so no one gets overwhelmed – try to choose someone who complements your fighting style and abilities, okay? Don't make me do all the work for you."

Chiron leaned back and watched all the teenagers lean forward to examine the map more closely. Clarisse was good for waking up lazy kids, he reflected. There's nothing like an angry daughter of Ares to get things going…and it looked as if she was starting a fight already.

"I WILL take the area around the creek," Annabeth hissed. "Percy and I can work together there – we've done it before. And you don't even know how to wield a sword!"

"You mean in capture the flag when you tried to kill me?" Percy asked, but very quietly. She ignored him.

"No, I will handle that area," Drew said, switching on her charmspeak. "I'm just as good at using a dagger as you are, and Percy and I will work wonderfully together, won't we, Percy?" She gave him her sweetest smile, and both he and Annabeth seemed struggling to get themselves back under control.

"Well, you know what," Carter interrupted, glaring daggers at Drew, "I'll take the creek. Percy and Annabeth will keep the Canoe Lake locked down, okay? And, Drew, maybe you should take the Arts and Crafts cabin. I'm sure that will be a major fighting area, right, Clarisse?"

She smirked as the Ares girl nodded and smirked right back at her. Annabeth, who had shaken off the charmspeak, wrote the names in the correct places on the map in Sharpie.

"Hey, Carter," Leo called from across the table. "You need a partner, right? I can help you out there. Fire and water – we'll make a pretty good team. Write my name next to yours, will you?"

Glancing around quickly, Carter realized that Nico still hadn't entered. Sighing inwardly, she added Leo's name underneath hers in small cursive Sharpie letters.

"Hey, where's Nico?" Percy yelled over the sound of several campers arguing over fighting stations.

"Go get him, punk," Clarisse shouted back, trying to stop Pollux from throwing a bottle of Gatorade at Connor. Percy was trying to untangle himself from a myriad of wires Annabeth had connected to her laptop when the door opened quietly and Nico slipped into the room.

Raising his eyebrows at the commotion, he slid fluidly into the seat next to Percy, and scanned the map quickly. Without consulted anyone, he crossed out and replaced a few names, putting Katie Gardiner in the strawberry fields and Clovis in the arena. When he saw Leo's name next to Carter's

, he began to chew on the end of his pen. He turned to Percy, who was smirking at him.

"Do you really think they should be together?"

A/N: So, this was a little long, I just ended it here because I could probably have gone on for pages otherwise. Thank you again to everyone who favorited and reviewed and subscribed – I know I say this every time but I can't help it. Thanks everyone, R&R! See you soon


	6. Chapter 6

t 10, 2011 - Status: Complete - id: 7453892

Prev 1. Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 3. Chapter 3 4. Chapter 4 5. Chapter 5 6. Chapter 6 7. Chapter 7 8. Chapter 8 9. Chapter 9 10. Chapter 10 11. Chapter 11 12. Chapter 12 13. Chapter 13 14. Chapter 14 15. Chapter 15 16. Chapter 16 17. Chapter 17 18. Chapter 18 19. Chapter 19 20. Chapter 20 21. Not a chapter, but please read! 22. Chapter 21 23. Chapter 22 24. Chapter 23 25. Chapter 24 26. Chapter 25 27. Chapter 26 28. Chapter 27 29. Chapter 28 30. Chapter 29 31. Chapter 30 32. Chapter 31 33. Chapter 32 34. Chapter 33 35. Chapter 34 36. Chapter 35 37. Chapter 36 38. Chapter 37 39. Chapter 38 40. Chapter 39 41. Chapter 40 42. SEQUEL! Next

 **A/N: By the way, I'm probably messing Nico's age up in this chapter, so please don't panic. I know he was only like twelve in The Lost Hero, but I think he should be older. So he will be. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6

Before Percy could reply, Clarisse stomped over. "Finally decided to grace us with your presence, di Angelo?" she groused. "What did you people do? Move over, punk." She shoved Percy out of his seat and sat down.

"Valdez!" she barked suddenly. "Why are you at the creek? Don't you know there'll be loads of fighting there? You get tired after one bolt of fire."

"But I'll be good there!" Leo protested. "I mean, she can control water and I do fire – we'll be one heck of a team."

But Hephaestus' children had never impressed Clarisse much anyway (I mean, come on! Ares kids can make their own weapons too, you know!), and when she was annoyed with them, she was really annoyed. "You are going to help Katie in the strawberry fields. Every time the camp is attacked, they come in through the same old places – and the woods are one of them. Di Angelo will take the creek along with Lily. Those monsters won't know what's hit them."

She pulled out a fat red marker from her pocket, scribbled out Leo's name, and scrawled Nico's in its place. Standing, she turned to Annabeth and said, "Annabeth, you and Percy look okay, but try not to take any detours at the bottom of the lake, okay? Every year, we have to rescue you two from down there when you forget there's a world up here." And she walked away, leaving Nico to laugh at the blushing couple next to him and enjoy the crushed look on Leo Valdez's face.

At ten, they decided to take a break, and Annabeth and Clarisse took Lily to the arena to get her outfitted with some weapons.

"So first, I'm just going to toss you a couple swords and see how they fit your hand, okay?" Annabeth began giving Lily one weapon after another to hold, until five minutes later Clarisse lost her temper.

"That's it, Wise Girl," she snapped. "Lily, grab this." Shoving a random weapon into Lily's hand, Clarisse assumed a fighting stance. "En garde!"

Lily stared at the hefty girl in front of her. Surely Clarisse wasn't going to…Seconds later, Lily's hand brought the sword up automatically as Clarisse swung at her face with a huge double-handed sword. She realized that she had a fighting skill she didn't even know she possessed, and she blocked one strike after another and then assumed the offensive, without having any idea what she was doing. Feinting to one side, Lily twisted her wrist and disarmed Clarisse, swinging the point of her sword up to the other girl's throat.

Hearing applause, Lily spun around to see Percy and Nico walking towards them.

"Not bad, little sister," Percy grinned, ruffling her hair and chuckling when she slapped his hand. "Nice to see that you're not totally helpless." This time he ducked as she attempted to clobber him with the hilt of her weapon.

As Percy turned to Annabeth, Lily felt her sword sliding out of her hand. Turning, she saw Nico taking it from her to examine it closely.

"Interesting," he commented. "The blade is somewhat more slender than Percy's, but the hilt is a hand-and-a-half." He swung it through the air suddenly, flourishing and slicing. "Aerodynamic." Tossing it around, he frowned suddenly. "You should do something about the sharpness, though. It's too dull to actually do any damage. I can show you how to fix that and protect it magically, if you want."

While he was talking, Lily was more interested in watching him than listening to a word he was saying. The sunlight glinted off his smooth hair, and she found herself entranced by the way it shimmered when he moved. He tested the sword out with a grace that she was jealous of – his every moment was catlike and determined. And those eyes…those beautiful dark eyes she could get lost in forever…were looking at her….wait what?

"Huh?" She blinked up at him.

He stared down at her, caught by the way those turquoise eyes sparkled in the sun. "Oh, uh, you sword – yeah, it's a little blunt. I was saying that I could show you how to fix the point and protect it magically if you'd like."

She smiled at him, and he felt suddenly dizzy. "That would be great," she whispered, fixing those large, innocent eyes on him.

He stepped closer to her, and then closer – he could smell the vanilla from her hair, and discovered that it was his new favorite scent. Her eyes were closing, when he heard someone yelling his name.

"Nico!" Oh, great, it was Percy. "Nico! Get over here, the break's over! And bring my sister with you, will you?"

Looking suddenly self-conscious, she retreated from him. "We should go back," she said, and then ran towards the Big House, leaving him behind her, watching as her hair rippled in the breeze. Sensing a weight in his hand, he looked down to see that she had left her sword with him. He smiled as he ran a finger over the slender weapon. He'd give it to her later.

In the Underworld, Poseidon and Hades were walking through Persephone's gardens together, talking.

"You know, Zeus thinks you're behind the army marching towards Camp Half-Blood," Poseidon muttered. "He doesn't want any of us to tell you about Aphrodite's 'prophecy' either."

Hades barked a laugh. "Well, you told me a while ago, so it doesn't really matter **(A/N: If you didn't get it, at the beginning of Chapter 1, Poseidon was talking to Hades, not Zeus. Yup.)** , and anyway I don't think there's much Zeus can do about anything – not that army of monsters which our children don't even know about, and not the 'budding relationship' Aphrodite keeps blathering about either."

"Is it really a good idea to just allow our children to…you know…"

Hades scoffed. "You really think I want my son fooling around with your daughter? I'd rather he found one of those stupid Aphrodite girls, but I don't have much of a choice. He's like me," Hades smiled proudly, "He doesn't like to be told what to do and he does what he wants. He'll figure out what to do. And anyway, he can take care of himself."

"It's just…well, he's the most dangerous demigod out there right now, and I don't know if it's good for her. She's just sixteen, Hades!"

"And my son is seventeen! I don't want him tangled up with EITHER of your children, but clearly that didn't work out, did it?"

"I'm just worried about her," Poseidon sighed. "You would be too, if you had a daughter."

"I had one, once," Hades growled, staring off into the distance. "I lost her – you had better keep a good watch on yours. If Zeus loses his temper and tries to kill her, he will –"

"He will pay for it," Poseidon snarled.

"We'd better get going," Hades said, ignoring his brother's sudden rage. "We need to check that pit in Tartarus out sometime. Come on."

That night, Lily showered and and changed into black lounge pants and a tank top that was only slightly too short for her. She was so tired her legs were shaking, so she collapsed onto her bunk and began to pile her hair up in a somewhat loose and messy updo.

"You're changed already?" Percy asked as he entered the cabin. "It's barely eight."

"Mhm…I'm tired. Oh, and you have some lip gloss on your cheek," she giggled, pointing to the shimmering but faint pink mark on his face. "I didn't know Annabeth wore lip gloss."

"Yeah, whatever," he muttered, wiping it off gingerly with his finger. "Hey, Nico wanted me to tell you that you left your sword with him. He said he'd give it back to you tomorrow if you were in bed or something."

Her eyes widened as she realized he was right. "Oh – I didn't even register that!"

Percy stared at her. "So, aren't you going?"

"Where?"

"To get it from him," he said slowly, as if explaining something to a whiny toddler. "I think he wanted to show you how to protect the point or something, too, so you should just go now. He might forget about that tomorrow, and he's the expert on weapons, not me. Cabin Thirteen," he said, grabbing her by the elbow, nearly lifting her off the bed, and propelling her to the door. "That one. And don't worry, everyone's either at the campfire or in bed like you, and people wear weirder pajamas here, so you won't get laughed at for how you're dressed. Although I do think the tank top is a little short…" He grinned at her and shoved her out the door, closing it behind her.

Shivering, Lily felt goose bumps rise on her arms and shoulders. Gods, it really was cold. Idiot, she thought, he gets to stay in a nice warm cabin and he sends me out here. She crossed quickly down to Cabin Thirteen, and knocked on the door. When no response came, she knocked again, louder this time. She heard Nico yelling something, and then the door opened.

She stepped back in surprise, stifling a gasp. He'd evidently just come out of the shower – his hair halfway dried but drops of water still clung to some strands or trickled down his face. He was wearing black jeans and a black button-down shirt that he hadn't buttoned up yet. There was a towel in his left hand.

"I-I'm sorry," she stammered. "I'll just…" She turned to go, and felt a warm hand grab her and pull her inside.

"It's okay," he said, his cheeks slightly red. "I'll just…finish in a second, okay?" He quickly rubbed his hair dry and buttoned up his shirt. "You came for your sword, right?"

"Yeah, and, um, Percy said something about the point?"

"Got it." He walked over to the table beside his bunk and bent slightly to pick something off of it, but for once, she wasn't paying attention. The inside of the cabin was surprisingly different from the outside, and this was the first time she was really getting a good look at it. There were several bunk beds inside, but the area around the fireplace was a sort of miniature sitting room. There was a dark red rug that appeared so soft that she knelt down to touch it, and immediately fell in love with it. Plushy chairs, either dark green or dark red, stood around the rug. There were torches inside as well, but they burned regular flames instead of the green Greek fire outside. There were pictures on the mantelpiece above the fire – pictures of a younger, smiling Nico with an older girl who resembled him, pictures of Nico with Percy and other campers, and even a picture of Nico and his father. She didn't dare to ask how he got it.

He cleared his throat, and she turned around, embarrassed. "It's okay," he shrugged. "People check those out all the time. But here, pay attention now." He sat down on the rug, and patted the spot next to him, indicating that she should join him. "So every demigod has power inside them – raw energy, okay? The thing is, being children of the Big Three, we have more than the others – enough that we can channel it differently. It'll be tiring at first if you try using it in big quantities, and you have to have lots of practice to be proficient with it, but for something as simple as maintaining a sword it's easy. You just have to sort of tap the power reserve within you, and then summon one spark, like this." Placing his fingertip against the tip of her sword, he allowed a black spark to emerge from his finger and be absorbed instantly by the Celestial bronze.

"Wow," she whispered. The sword had changed – it became shinier, smoother, and sharper. It was more beautiful, but deadlier as well.

"You won't have to do it again," he said, "but it's a good skill to have. And yeah, that's it."

But now that she was here, Lily didn't want to leave so soon. "What do you fight with?"

He stood again. "I'll show you." He moved towards his nightstand again, and returned with a three foot long sword and a knife. "I made them from Stygian iron," he explained. "Don't touch the blade – it will absorb your life essence. It does more than kill – it literally imbibes the being it strikes. Only those of the Underworld can handle it safely, so be careful."

"Le has something like this," Lily ventured. "He was playing with it at the meeting today."

Nico swore quite colorfully, and apologized when Lily raised her eyebrows. He stood abruptly. "Hey, I have to go and get it from him before he kills himself," he said. "Sorry, but I'll see you around, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned and practically ran from the cabin, leaving her sitting on the ground.

She sighed, and made her way back to her cabin with her sword, leaving his on the floor. When she entered, Percy and Annabeth were sitting together on the couch, leaning against each other and talking seriously about something.

"…it's dangerous," Annabeth was saying. "I don't know why the gods haven't said anything, but Nico said the force is huge, almost as big as what we fought last time, except he didn't see any Titans there. But he got pretty close to them, and he said he didn't detect any sort of leader or order among them. Apparently it's just a horde."

"We'll be okay, Wise Girl," Percy sighed, staring at the firelight reflecting off the abalone walls. "We've been through worse, and we have each other."

"And Lily."

"Yeah, and Nico."

"Well, we had him before too."

"You know what I mean."

"You know I do."

When they began to lean even closer, Lily cleared her throat and walked up to them, enjoying their obvious discomfort as they sprang apart.

"So, are we doomed?" she asked, curling up on the loveseat opposite the couch.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," a voice said from behind her.

"G-Man!" Percy yelled from the couch, unable to get up because Annabeth had stretched out, laying her head in his lap.

"'Sup, guys," Grover grinned, sitting on the floor in front of the fire and pulling out a Coke can to chew. "Found two daughters of Tyche this week, and a son of Nike. We may have a chance, people!" **(A/N: Tyche is the goddess of luck; Nike is the goddess of victory)**

"Hey, we got a son of Hades here too, he's got to count for something!" The door opened, and Nico strode in, accompanied by a blast of freezing air. "That idiot Valdez pocketed one of my knives and nearly killed himself," he announced. "He'd barely touched the blade when I found him, and he was lying half-dead on the floor. Then I got yelled at by Chiron for letting him near the thing when it was his fault anyway. All those Hephaestus people were freaked out as hell."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, I nearly died because of those stupid weapons too, remember? Why can't you just use a normal Hephaestus-made sword like everyone else?"

Nico grinned evilly, and Lily had the urge to smile with him and shudder at the same time. "Let's just say that Stygian iron channels my power better, and making your own weapons allows them to imbibe a part of you." When Annabeth opened her mouth, he held up a hand and she fell silent, making Grover raise his eyebrows in surprise and exchange looks with Lily. "I'm assuming Annabeth filled you all in? I'm here because I wanted to talk to you guys about why Olympus isn't telling us a goddamn thing."

"There's a reason for sure," Grover said through a mouthful of can. "All the gods must have agreed it's better not to tell us something."

"No, they haven't," Nico sighed. "My dad told me." He fought the urge to laugh when he saw the dumbfounded faces around the room. "That's how I knew to go scouting. And I mean – that army is HUGE. There's like practically all sorts of things coming our way, but it's not an army, it's a mob. There's no leader, like Kronos led them last time. I don't get it, really."

Carter unfolded her legs, stretching them out. "How did you even get close enough to tell? Didn't they smell or see you?"

"He's the son of Hades, Lily," Percy pointed out. "He can travel in shadows, hide in them, so on so forth. He does lots of scary things." He chuckled.

Nico sighed. "We're going to have to make sure everyone is up to fighting par tomorrow. That army will be here in two days max, and we'll need to be ready. Especially that useless Aphrodite cabin."

 **A/N: Yay another update! You know the routine: thank you, brownies for everyone, please review! 3**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:Please Read Note At Bottom!**

Chapter 7

Damn it. Some rather painful cramps had woken Carter at an incredibly ungodly hour – nearly four in the morning. She'd gotten her period the previous night, and she had always gotten the most awful cramps because of it. And today, of all days, those idiot boys had decided to train the camp in "fighting." I don't

think I can even hold a sword up today, she grumbled to herself. Hopefully Annabeth or Clarisse would understand.

They didn't, as it turned out. Neither of them suffered particularly painful cramps during their weeks – in fact, Clarisse didn't get cramps at all (none of Ares' daughters did, since they needed to be combat-ready at any given moment. Lucky girls.) After two hours of sparring and getting yelled at by Annabeth for not holding her sword right and Drew for not combing her hair right, Lily was developing a massive headache and felt herself losing her temper.

Soon after, she and one of Apollo's daughters, a fifteen-year-old girl named Jessie, were practicing archery when Jessie suggested they try to hit a target over by the forge, which wasn't particularly close to the arena.

"Uh, you know what," Carter said, eyeing the hammer lying on the ground that they were aiming at, "You go first. You're better at this than I am anyway."

Jessie laughed – she really was the better archer, and with a father like hers, it wasn't surprising. "Sure. Watch and learn, amateur." She winked at her new friend and pulled an arrow out from her quiver.

As Carter returned her gaze to the target, her face suddenly drained of the little color it had. She had seen a familiar head of silky dark hair behind the wall of the cabin, and pressed up against him was…Drew. They were kissing, that much was obvious, and the Aphrodite girl's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Your turn," Jessie announced, having nailed the target perfectly in the center. If it was a monster, she was sure it would have died from the single shot she had released. "Carter?"

"Oh, sorry," Carter mumbled, her mind still reeling. She absently fitted an arrow to the bowstring, and released it.

"ZEUS!" Jessie shrieked, diving to one side as the arrow hurtled towards her head. "Carter, PLEASE try to aim! I'm too young to die!"

Carter just stared at her in shock. "I didn't mean to – are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm okay, my dad left me some pretty awesome reflexes, you know?" Jessie grinned. "Hey, are you feeling okay? You're pale, and you didn't get much sleep, obviously…Oh, is it that time of month?" Giggling at the other girl's surprise, Jessie lowered her voice. "Daughter of the God of Medicine right here, baby. It's okay, I get awful cramps too – and you look like you're in pain every couple minutes. Just go take a nap – I'll cover for you."

"Are you sure?" Carter asked, more than grateful that she had been paired up with Jessie. She really liked the girl, who was outspoken but ultimately sweet-tempered.

"Positive. Get going before you pass out and I have to waste energy healing you. Shoo!"

Smiling for the first time that day, albeit briefly, Carter practically ran towards the cabin, trying to erase the image of Nico and Drew kissing from her mind. She almost made it, too, when she heard someone calling her name.

"Carter, can I talk to you?" Percy asked, jogging up to her.

"What?" Her comment came out harsher than it was supposed to be

He raised his eyebrows. She was normally never this brusque. "Well, you weren't fighting like you normally do, you haven't combed your hair, and you look like a raccoon. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." So she looked like a raccoon, did she? Well, let's give _him menstrual_ cramps and see how much sleep _he gets_ , she thought.

"I'm serious," he said, grabbing her shoulder when she tried to turn into the cabin. "You can tell me what's bothering you, if you're worried about if your and Nico's fighting styles are compatible or something then –"

"It has nothing to do with him!" she hissed, jerking her shoulder from his grasp. The pain of seeing him with another girl, even though he had never directly expressed an interest in her, flooded her frame again. "But you know what, I don't even know why Clarisse put me with him! Everyone here likes him because he's hot and he's polite and he acts nice, but that can't be what he's really like! He acts like he's oh so perfect, but I don't think he is. I mean, he has every girl here practically chasing after him, and I bet he just loves the attention! And do you even know if you can trust him at all? Look at his father! I bet he's just like him – creepy and violent and untrustworthy." She blinked her eyes rapidly – she was NOT going to cry over someone as worthless as Nico di Angelo. Never again. "And I have a headache, and I'm going to take a nap. See you."

She slammed the cabin door behind her and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep almost immediately as physical exhaustion overpowered her racing mind and heart.

Percy stood outside the cabin for a moment more and then turned and returned to the arena. Neither he nor his sister had noticed the Italian boy who blended in perfectly to the shadows, his eyes betraying his anger and his broken heart.

 **A/N: I just wanted to tell everyone that I really appreciate your reviews, whether it's constructive criticism or plain positive feedback (which always makes me smile). For those of you who have critiqued, I am taking into account what you've told me, but this is my first fic and I'm still working on my writing skills. HOWEVER, I will do my best to change/improve the things you think I could. Special thanks to Phoenix1592, who always makes me smile with her reviews, and to all of you just for reading and being awesome, and also everyone who Favorited and alerted. On with the story!**


	8. Chapter 8

For a while, Carter's sleep was peaceful and dreamless. But the darkness shifted aside, as an image of a beautiful young woman sitting in a plushy pink chintz armchair. The woman leaned closer, narrowing her gorgeous eyes slightly.

"Can you hear me, sweetheart?" she whispered.

"Yeah," Carter replied, suddenly conscious that she was dreaming. The other woman sensed the shift in her emotions as anxiety filled the teenager.

"Relax," she advised. "I'm Aphrodite – I won't hurt you, but I won't let you wake until I'm quite done speaking. So just listen for a moment, alright?"

Carter snorted. "You know what, I've had a really rough day and I don't feel like having the gods poke their noses into my business just yet, okay? So how about we talk some other time?"

Something in the goddess' face hardened, and Carter sensed that she had picked a fight with the wrong person…okay, wrong goddess.

"You will hear me out, or I will make you fall in love with a bear, Carter Paige Quinn," the goddess snapped. "Now listen. What you saw earlier today – that lovely boy kissing my daughter – was not his fault. Drew inherited her looks from me, yes, and also her charmspeaking ability, but she is one of my more…shallow children – after all, a girl has to indulge, and I represent that side of women as well. You see, sweetheart, he didn't expect that she would try to seduce him like that – it's worked on every other boy, as you probably expect." She paused, allowing the meaning of her words to sink in.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Aphrodite giggled, a tinkling laugh that seemed to hang in the air after she had closed her mouth. "Honestly, sweetie, you can't hide things like that from me. I am the goddess of love, you know. I know you like him, and I can't blame you…if only he was a bit older, even I might have…well, never mind," she demurred, as Carter blanched She knew exactly what Aphrodite had meant. "My point is that you shouldn't give up on him just yet. The two of you could be quite the couple, you know. I could add you to my collection."

The goddess waved her hand to her right, and as the dream's confines expanded, Carter noticed a wall covered in pictures. It seemed that Aphrodite had pictures of all the couples she liked – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, David and Victoria Beckham, Percy (her brother!) and Annabeth, Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, two lovers who Carter assumed were Helen and Paris, and many more whom she did and didn't recognize.

"Many of these are my children," Aphrodite commented, gazing at the wall. "But I'm not so selective. Just…play your cards right, okay, sweetheart? There are some powers who would prefer if you fail."

"If I fail what? And who?"

Aphrodite glanced around almost apprehensively. "Well, Zeus, for one," she said. "I don't know the rest – since you and Nico are not a couple yet, no one has chosen sides but he – as far as I know. As for your other question, are you sure you really want to know? Ask your brother, Percy – sometimes ignorance really is bliss."

"Well, I can't have you planning out my life, and I'd rather just know whatever you're hiding," Carter answered. "I hate not knowing things."

The goddess sighed. "You are so like your father. You can both be infuriating sometimes. Luckily for you, I feel patient today." She plucked a rose out of nowhere and inhaled its fragrance. "Well, just before you entered Camp a few days ago, I had a – a prophecy, you could say. The thing is, since I'm not an Oracle, and I am the goddess of…romantic feelings, it was more of a hunch than anything else. You and this boy – the two of you have a forbidden love. And don't you dare start shaking your head as if you aren't in love – well, maybe it's just a crush, but you'll get there if you spend enough time around him. It's simple chemistry, with a little biology and physics. You can't help it, sweetie.

"So the thing is, you would end up shifting the balance of power on Olympus – it would move away from Zeus and towards Hades, which is something Zeus fears greatly. Our children's accomplishments and entanglements affect us as well, and a union of two of the Big Three's children would lead to a strengthening of their relationship as well. Do you see why the two of you are such a threat to Zeus? And on top of that, his only daughter has sworn off boys, Ireally can't understand why, and Hades' son is quite powerful."

Carter sat in shock. If she even tried to have a relationship with Nico, Zeus would most likely try to kill her. Comforting. But beneath the shock and fear, she felt a growing wave of anger threatening to overcome her again (it must be her father's fault – she'd heard Poseidon was quite moody and that described her emotions perfectly).

Aphrodite sensed that the girl was quickly becoming angry again, but this time towards the gods in general. She decided it was better to escape before the teenager said something stupid about Zeus or even the other Olympians.

"Nice talking to you, sweetheart, and try not to freak out, alright? Just talk to your brother if you need to." The dream dissolved, and Carter woke with a start.

The cabin was mercifully empty. Carter fell back onto the pillows, frowning at the hippocampi swimming around the ceiling, her mind buzzing with what Aphrodite had told her.

A couple hours later, Percy began to worry when he couldn't find Carter anywhere outside. He pushed open the cabin door and frowned when he saw her asleep.

"Wake up," he called, kicking the door shut. "You've been asleep for four hours. Get up now, you need to go help Nico check the defenses in your area. Move it."

Yawning, she stood and stretched. "Can I ask you something?" she mumbled.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"What do you know about Aphrodite?"

He raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "She's manipulative, powerful, scary, beautiful, and if she has an interest in you, you had better run and hide as soon as possible. Why?"

She shuffled her feet. "Well, I had a dream, and she told me…things."

"What did she say?" He was now giving her his undivided attention, worried.

"That…well, that Zeus wants to kill me and that me and Nico could really shake things up on Olympus by shifting power towards Hades." She was now staring at her bare feet.

"That's…well, don't worry too much," he advised. "Zeus has wanted me dead for ages, it's nothing new. Sort of. Just don't do anything too out there, which I guess would mean to stay away from Nico. The thing is, if Aphrodite is interested in your love life, it's probably going to be rough. She doesn't like things easy. But take it easy – it'll work out. Like me and Annabeth. Go find Nico in a few minutes – I guess you're feeling better?" She saw the uneasiness on his face, and realized he was remembering her rant about his friend.

"Yes," she whispered, and retreated into the bathroom, glad Nico didn't know how nastily she had spoken about him earlier, although she hadn't really meant a word of what she said.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting! I know these chapters are short, but I will post some longer ones soon. Life is getting busier, so I may not be able to post every day, but I will try to post at least a few times a week (hopefully). Thank you, please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After waiting half an hour for Carter to show up, Nico stormed back to Cabin Thirteen, disgusted with her. Although he definitely wasn't a player, and had never had a serious girlfriend because he'd never found anyone he really liked, he was familiar with the feminine species, and had thought he could read her easily. She'd seemed so innocent and beautiful when he first saw her, with the sunlight shining on her hair and sparkling in those ocean eyes of hers, that he had fallen for her right then. The way she interacted with him afterwards – blushing, smiling, lowering his eyes when they met his – had convinced him she returned his feelings, albeit shyly. But hearing her talk to Percy about him had changed his mind. And now – she didn't even have the decency to help him out with their work? They were supposed to strengthen and review the defenses that had been erected, and he'd done it all himself.

He threw his sword at the wall, knowing it wouldn't get damaged. Well, the sword wouldn't. No promises about the wall. He sighed and opened the closet to check his armor. It was usually in good condition – Stygian iron was hard to wear down, but it was better to be safe than sorry. For the same reason, he kept extras of almost every weapon he had: extra knives, daggers, swords, bows, arrows, and so on. It was difficult to lose a fight if you had reached even half the level of preparation that Nico di Angelo maintained, and he knew it.

Rubbing his dark eyes, he put a hand on the wall next to the fireplace and it melted away, revealing a circular room with a deep pit in it. He used the room to hone his skills at necromancy, and to communicate with his father and sister. The door slid closed behind him as he poured root beer into the pit.

Brushing away the hair that the wind blew in her eyes, Carter raised one small fist and knocked on Nico's door. The area around the creek had been deserted, so she had come to Cabin Thirteen to see if he needed her to do anything. No one answered the door, so she knocked again. After waiting for a few minutes, she gently pushed the door open and walked in. His armor was spread out on one of the bunks, and his sharp sword, blacker than a nightmare, lay below a dent on the wall. But the room was empty. She sighed, and turned to go, when she heard voices coming…from behind the wall?

She stood near the fireplace, where the voices were loudest, and recognized a deep murmur as Nico's. But how was he behind the wall? She put her hand on the obsidian, looking for some crack or fissure, and instead the entire wall vanished, revealing Nico and…

Nico had summoned Bianca almost immediately after entering the room. She was the one person whom he could tell anything, and because she was a ghost and therefore able to access and eavesdrop on all sorts of people, sometimes she knew more than he did. Bianca had been cautioning him about being too angry with Carter when he heard a loud thud. Turning, he saw Carter unconscious on the floor.

Bianca smiled gently. "She meant no harm, Nico, when she was talking to Percy. She's had a rough day. She really does care about you. Try to understand that." She looked into her little brother's eyes, and saw the conflicting emotions there. He was trying to bury his anger, but it was still there.

"Let her talk to you," she suggested. "If she tries to keep things moving, let her come closer to you before you bring it up. It may save your relationship. And I should go – see if she's okay. I love you, brother."

"Love you too," he whispered, releasing the magic and allowing her to slip away like she did so many years ago, leaving him lost and alone. Years later, he had never stopped missing his sister – he had lost the last connection to his family except for his father.

He walked over to Carter and carried her out of the room, laying her onto his bed. He could see her life aura if he wanted to, and it was only slightly subdued – nothing serious was wrong with her, besides the shock of seeing a real ghost for the first time. The shadows her eyelashes cast on her cheeks wavered, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Ohmygosh," she gasped, sitting bolt upright. She looked at him frantically, her eyes wide and terrified. "What just –"

"You fainted." He passed her a glass of water.

"Was that really a…a ghost?" Her little teeth clinked against the glass as she drank, the color returning to her face soon after.

He nodded sharply.

"Whose?" She asked, her curiosity piqued. She missed his body language signals, which clearly broadcasted the fact that this was a forbidden subject.

"None of your damn business. Where were you today?" He snarled. "I had to go over everything, and I know nothing about your powers! I just took guesses on things involving you because I had no idea how you needed them to be. You may think that you can keep the rest of us hanging just because your father is Poseidon, but if you ever pull something that stupid on me again, you will pay for it."

"Well, maybe I had a killer headache and needed to lie down!" She hissed back. "And it's not like there was so much work for you to do – and at least I came to see if you needed me to do anything. Forgive me for trying to be the bigger person!"

Something changed in his expression, and she paled, backing away until her back touched the wall behind the bed.

"YOU are the bigger person?" he repeated quietly, and somehow his silky smooth tone scared her more than his shouting voice. "And I suppose I'm an untrustworthy son of the Underworld who's going to betray and kill all of you, isn't that right? Just because of whom my father is?" A part of him enjoyed the shock and raw fear in her eyes as she realized he had overheard her, and another part of him wanted to gather her into his strong arms and hold her forever as her eyes began to tear up.

"I didn't –" She broke off as they heard screams coming from outside the cabin.

"What the hell…" Nico pushed open the door and found several bows pointed straight at him.

"Nico di Angelo." A girl with spiky dark hair, blue eyes and the shield Aegis strapped to her arm stepped up. "We need to talk."

He raised his eyebrows, inwardly wondering how stupid these silver-parka clad girls could be to threaten a son of Hades. "About what?"

"Shut it," she snapped. "We're being attacked by skeleton warriors right now, and they're damn near impossible to kill. Clarisse told me you checked the attacking force out thoroughly, and that there were no skeletons trying to attack us. Since you're the only one who can control them, it's obvious that –"

"You think he's coordinating their attack?" Carter asked incredulously, standing on her tiptoes and craning her neck to see over Nico's shoulder. She eyed the new arrivals distrustfully. "I don't know who are, but that is one of the most unintelligent things I have ever heard."

Exactly half the arrows shifted aim to point at Poseidon's daughter, who refused to be intimidated by the mere possibility of instant death (Seriously, she was hiding behind Nico, of all people. She wasn't going to be dying anytime soon.)

"Daughter of Zeus," Thalia said. "Name's Thalia. And you're probably one of his Aphrodite flings. Get going, we don't need you muddling things up."

Nico opened his mouth, but before he could say a word, Carter shoved him aside and stood directly in front of him, facing Thalia. "That's nice," she smiled unconvincingly. "We'll talk to you later." And she slammed the door in the other girl's face.

She hated bullies. She always had. It was one of the first things she and Percy had discovered they had in common, and somehow this daughter of Zeus seemed like a downright bully toCarter. Breathing hard, she turned around, and stepped back into the door when she found herself face-to-chest (yeah, he's that tall compared to her) with Nico.

Drat. She'd forgotten they'd been fighting. He probably would have no idea what to do with her now, unless he was still upset. There was no way he would trust her though. He hated her now, didn't he?

"You didn't have to get involved," he murmured into her ear, still standing so painfully close, but still keeping a gap between them. "You don't want Zeus' kid as your enemy…she's pretty powerful, and she's a Hunter of Artemis. She's practically immortal and even stronger for it, and besides, it wasn't your fight."

She looked up at him through a veil of black eyelashes. "You can't restrain the sea," she whispered, repeating something Percy said Poseidon had once told him. "And my daddy is pretty damn powerful too – I think I can take her." She broke off when a conch sounded from outside – it was Chiron's call to summon the camp together. Opening the door, she turned around before stepping out. "And besides, you would have done the same for me." She ran before he could see the tears in her eyes as she realized she wasn't too sure of that last sentence.

Chiron was standing in the mess hall, waiting for all the campers to arrive. "They are here," he finally announced, his voice tired and cracked. "We will be under attack in an hour or less. But before we prepare, I want to let you all know something the gods think I should not reveal, but that may urge you all to be more cautious.

"There is…another power at work here. It has the ability to…freeze time, and it is exercising it in your lives. Essentially, you are all immortal – you are not aging. You have not been since you stepped foot in camp any time after this summer. You have therefore been denied the ability to grow into your powers and strengths – unless you are around seventeen or eighteen years old, you are not as strong as you can be. Therefore you are more vulnerable. So please, be careful. Especially…if we really are dealing with Kronos again."

Silence weighed upon the camp. Those who had fought in the second Titan War were remembering the pain and fear that had stalked them, and others were terrified at the very thought.

"At least I don't have to worry about that girl being immortal anymore," Carter muttered to herself. She eyed the people around her surreptitiously until she found Nico, who had a frown between his brows and was tapping one Converse-clad foot impatiently.

"Well, stop worrying, you pansies," Clarisse ordered, jumping up onto the tabletop. "We have bigger problems. We took down Kronos once, we can do it again. But if we don't survive today, we are NEVER going to see Kronos' ugly mug again. Everyone go find your armor and get it on. Grab your weapons, let's move it! Get to your stations!" As people began running around, she grabbed Nico's arm and swung him around to face her. "You're sitting this one out, punk."

"Make me," he sneered.

She glared right back at him, doing her best to intimidate him and failing miserably. He was by far the scariest demigod any of them knew, when he wanted to be. "I'm serious, kid," she said. "We can't trust you right now. We've got the skeletons locked up, but we can't kill them. We need to know where they came from, and you're the prime suspect."

"Have you considered the fact that not all monsters are stupid, and that some of them called for reinforcements? Or were you too busy trying to figure out how to put on mascara so you'd finally impress that dude you're interested in?"

She swung a fist at him, but he'd easily dodged. "You are NOT fighting with us, Hades spawn," she hissed, so angry that she nearly had flames dancing in her eyes like her father did.

"Bull," Percy snapped, walking up. "He's fighting. We need him – without him, I doubt we have a chance. I trust him, and that should be good enough for you." He turned his green eyes to his best friend. "Carter wanted me to tell you she's heading straight there – something about having her sword tucked into her boots and hating wearing armor. Stay safe, buddy, and take care of her." They man-hugged briefly and Percy jogged away. Nico gave Clarisse one last, angry look before melting away into previously nonexistent shadows.

Carter reached into one of her black, suede knee-high boots and pulled out her sword. She'd worn black skinny jeans with a fitting orange Camp- Half Blood T-Shirt, and as she moved through a few stretched, she was delighted to find that the outfit moved with her. Glancing around, she noticed the younger demigods (and a few older ones) who were fighting with her and Nico moving into position. A slight rustle to her left made her tilt her head to locate the source, and she froze, blood pounding into her cheeks as her heartbeat went haywire.

Nico had shadow-traveled less than two inches away from her left arm. He wasn't even looking up – he had a knife in his teeth and was untangling his sword from a thin leather bracelet on his left wrist. He was wearing black armor over his dark clothes, but his helmet was dangling from one of his fingers, and he looked… _delicious_ , in Carter's opinion. His smooth hair flopped back as he yanked his sword free, lifted his head, and noticed her.

"Hey," he muttered, nodding at her, before backing into the shadows and crouching in a defensive stance. Why wasn't she moving? He wondered. She was standing in the one patch of light that was actually there. Dammit, he realized. She'd never fought before – she had no idea how to actually wait for an attack. "Come here," he breathed, barely loud enough for her to hear. He shifted a little, giving her space in the darkness. "Stay still and hide until they show themselves. Then you can do practically anything you want." She shivered as the bare skin on their arms touched when he shifted his grip on his sword. Even in the dark, he looked hot.

Nico saw her blushing, and allowed a small smile to tug on his lips as he watched her fidget with the hem of her shirt, twisting it in her fingers while biting her lips. Dwarfing her hand with his own, he stilled her nervous fingers with a single touch. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," he whispered softly into her ear, bending down slightly. "I know you didn't mean it."

She raised her eyes to his, but a twig cracked somewhere in the woods before she could respond. He sucked in his breath as a large figure moved between the trees near them, and felt her tremble as she noticed it as well. There were more shapes in the half-light now, and Carter was steeling her nerves, preparing for the fight. As the adrenaline began to course through her veins, she turned to look at Nico – only to find him so much closer than she expected that her lips brushed his when she turned.

Chuckling, he gave himself a few seconds to enjoy the blush seeping from her neck into her cheeks. She had lowered her eyes in embarrassment and confusion, but he shrugged to himself – it just gave him an excellent opportunity to study her other features (which were equally as gorgeous as her eyes, he felt). He could see it even in the near-darkness – standing so close behind her had been an excellent idea on his part. Oh, if that idiot Valdez could see them now. He wanted so badly to reel her in and kiss her properly, but before he could, an arrow whizzed by her ear, and she brandished her sword, hissing. The invasion had begun.

Meanwhile, Annabeth and Percy had taken up their stations, waiting for the action.

"Ready, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth whispered. She and Percy were hiding behind the canoes, getting bored by the sheer lack of monsters.

"Do I get a kiss for luck? Tradition, you know." He winked.

She rolled her eyes. "Instead of asking me for a kiss, just imagine what your sister and di Angelo are probably doing right now…you know he likes to hide in shadows before a fight, and since she has no clue what to do she's probably with him." She giggled as his face paled and grabbed him as he tried to get up.

"Like hell I'm going to let him touch her!" The thought of Nico kissing his sister made him angrier than he expected – it wasn't Nico's fault, it was more the possibility of his pretty, innocent little sister kissing any guy that bothered him.

"Stay STILL, Percy," Annabeth gasped, holding fast to his arm. "And besides, didn't you tell me that you think he'll be perfect for her? Just let them be or they'll never get anywhere. And she's sixteen, and a Big Three demigod – she can take care of herself."

"I don't – want – him – touching – my – little – sister!" Percy spluttered, struggling as she tried to keep him from giving their position away. "And she can't take care of herself around him – she freaking has a crush on him!" Frustrated, Annabeth tackled him and assaulted his mouth with hers, knowing it would shut him up.

"Actually," he breathed, when she finally broke the kiss, gasping for air, "I think I'll just stay here."

 **A/N: PLEEEEEEEEEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU FOR SUBSCRIBING AND REVIEWING AND FAVORITING PLEASE KEEP IT UP! LOVE YOU ALL AND A BIG FIGHT COMING UP! If you have any issues/questions/comments/concerns feel free to contact me**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So I know I've been horrible about replying to reviews lately, but it's NOT because I don't want to – I've just been really busy and doing my best to get the next chapter up so as not to disappoint all my lovely reviewers and readers. And also, one of my reviewers pointed out that if Nico is 17, Percy should be 21. I am aware of that, but I preferred to keep Percy a teenager without making Nico too young, so I played with his age. So thank you very much, I am doing my best to incorporate all your suggestions, and hope you like my latest offering!**

Chapter 10

An hour later, Nico discovered that he and Carter made an excellent team. They didn't even need to speak to each other – they moved in sync and with perfect timing without even trying to. She looked like a goddess fighting, he thought, slender and flexible and goddamn beautiful and dangerous and…okay, brain, shut up. He shook hair from his eyes and lunged. A hellhound howled and splattered him with yellowish dust as it vaporized. Across the stream, Carter and the naiads were hammering at the attackers with water. She controlled it with her own body – she would move her arms and hands and waist and the water would flow where she wanted it to. It was a beautiful process, he observed, watching the water cast rainbows on the ground as it sparkled. Panting, he scanned the area – campers were entangling with monsters all around them, but for a moment he was free.

Actually, scratch that. A group of empousi had encircled Carter, drawing her away from the other naiads. She couldn't fight all of them, six on one was too many, especially for a girl who lacked experience. There was no way for him to reach her in time on foot; he would have to shadow-travel. Moments later, he appeared by her side and blocked a strike from an empousa with curly red hair and honey eyes. He had evaporated two and was facing off with a third when Carter staggered against his back. She'd lost her balance, and her attacker was swooping down to bite her –

Nico grabbed the girl and shadow-traveled them both a few feet away, right into the creek. They both went under the water, but she could still breathe. He, unfortunately, could not. Her weight was above him, pinning him down along with the disorientation he felt, and although he could see the blurred outlines of the empousi being vaporized by a surge of water, he had a more pressing problem. He pounded weakly on the girl's back, trying to get her to understand that he was suffocating. Moments later, she seized his sodden shirt and dragged him out onto dry land. Pounding on his shirt, she got him to cough up the water he had swallowed.

"I'm okay," he rasped, pushing himself up and drawing his sword again. "They need you over there." Seeing her open her mouth, he pushed her in the direction she was needed in. "I'm serious, I'm fine, GO!" She ran off, brandishing her sword, while he admired the view.

As he was shaking droplets of water from his hair, Nico noticed a sudden movement to his left. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw…oh, holy Hades, no.

Leo Valdez ran up, his face slightly blackened with soot. "Carter!" he yelled, ignoring Nico completely. "DUDE,CARTER, I NEED YOU!"

The girl in question ignored him, focusing on trying to save one of the naiads, who had engaged some sort of flying monster. Nico snarled at him, and Leo backed up slightly. "I MEAN I NEED YOUR HELP!" he shouted at her over the noise of the battle and rushing water.

Flipping her dark hair out of her face, Carter nodded at him. Sending one last barrage of water at a group of hydras, drowning them in a sphere of the cool liquid, she ran over.

"What's going on?" she asked breathlessly. Leo's heart contracted slightly at her voice. Gods, she was so beautiful, even when her shirt was torn at the hem and there was blood on it.

"Fire at the strawberry fields," Leo answered, licking his suddenly dry lips. "We can't put it out, and Percy and Annabeth are too busy to help, so I thought that if Death Boy here can hold down the fort on his own for a while, you could come and help."

"I'll come," she decided. "Nico, I'll be back soon, alright? Good luck!"

Leo grabbed her hand and pulled her away before Nico could respond. Death Boy? Honestly. That moronic second-rate blacksmith probably considered himself lucky if he had even half an intelligent thought a week, Nico thought angrily to himself. His thoughts would have gotten even ruder, but a group of clattering skeletons confronted him, distracting him.

A few hours later, Nico was beginning to get seriously annoyed by everything – the never-ending fight, Carter's continued absence, and the fact that LEO had been the one to take her from him. He was flowing from one movement to the other, stabbing and lunging and slicing, and he could see that the invading force was quickly growing weaker – but not quickly enough. He was irritated, yes, but he could handle it. Moments later, he felt a pang and whirled around to see one of his wolves being killed by an empousa. His temporary grief grew into anger, and then full-blown fury, and a furious son of Hades is nearly as scary as his father. He summoned waves of zombie warriors from the ground, called upon hellhounds and other unsavory Underworld creatures to serve him, and within moments had a pounding headache but no enemies left. Campers were staring at him in fear and awe, but he sent his miniature army towards the other monsters still in camp and strode away, hiding the weakness in his frame.

Lily, meanwhile, was not faring quite as well. She and Leo were currently pinned underneath a huge hydra – nothing like the small ones she and the naiads had drowned earlier. Her sword was lying a few feet away, and Leo was too exhausted to do more than moan. There was a nasty cut on one temple which he had gotten by saving her from a hellhound – it had come at her from behind and he had shoved her out of the way, getting slashed across the forehead before she had dispatched it. The hydra snarled down at her, and she snarled right back, wishing she was strong enough to summon the waters again.

Before it could attack her, there was a loud howl, unearthly enough to raise the hairs on the back of her neck. Suddenly a swarm of skeletal warriors attacked the hydra, shooting at it with outdated guns or stabbing it with knives. She staggered to her feet, dragging Leo away with her. They weren't too far into the fields, but she couldn't see monsters anywhere – only campers.

"Carter!" Annabeth ran up to her. She seemed unharmed except for a small graze on her left arm. "Oh gods, you're bleeding. Let me help –"

"I'm fine,"Carter said, searching the campers milling around for Nico. "Leo needs help. Is it over?"

"Yes, I think Nico lost his temper and summoned a few more cronies than he meant to, but it was really helpful for us. I just hope he's okay – the last time he tried to summon more than he could, he nearly died. Percy says his powers drain him a lot." Annabeth swung Leo over her shoulder, glad he was so skinny. "I'll take this guy to Will – he'll be okay. Go find Nico." She winked and ran off, leaving Carter to marvel at how she managed to run while carrying a son of Hephaestus on one shoulder.

She returned to the woods, but encountered no one. The area around the stream where she and Nico had been fighting was nearly deserted. A few naiads were sitting on the rocks in human form. They smiled, waved, and slipped back into the water, vanishing from view.

Catching a look at her reflection in the creek, Carter sighed. A cut on her face had bled all over her cheek. Her right arm was pretty badly bruised and in one spot above her elbow she had another gash. The worst one was on her stomach, though, right above her hip. A hellhound had clawed at her and torn through her shirt with its claws, leaving her with a painful wound. Maybe she should have emulated Nico's example and worn armor.

"Nico?" she called, moving between the trees quietly. A twig snapped behind her, and she turned to see Percy standing before her.

He stepped forward and hugged her tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay," he whispered.

"I'm glad you're safe too," she breathed into his shirt. It smelled like Annabeth's favorite perfume, making her smile.

"Have you seen Nico?" he asked. "We've been looking, but I don't know where he is. I don't know if he's okay or not – that was a lot of minions he summoned."

"Did you check his cabin?" she asked suddenly. When Percy shook his head, she pulled away from him. "I bet that's where he is! I'll go see." And she practically ran off, making Percy laugh to himself. She had it bad.

Nico was in his cabin. He didn't feel ready to face the others – they'd just step away from him and avert their eyes again. They feared him, and he knew it. Most of the time they tried to act normal around him – when he wasn't summoning skeletons or getting a dark, angry look in his eyes that was reminiscent of his father, he was pretty much a normal teenager. But now, they remembered who he was – an outcast. That had never really changed.

He tossed his armor onto one of the beds, pulling off his shirt to assess the damage. Mostly he was okay, because the armor had protected him, but he had a dark purple bruise on his chest, a scratch on his neck, and an arrow wound in his shoulder. Mumbling a few curses in Ancient Greek but glad he'd gotten off reasonably well, he rummaged around behind his bed in the little cabinet he kept extra food in, looking for some ambrosia and nectar. He hadn't felt this weak in years, he thought ruefully.

A knock at the door roused him from his thoughts, and he went to open it. Carter was standing outside, and he saw her cheeks redden when she realized he didn't have a shirt on. Her reactions were hilarious, in his opinion: first she blushed and lowered her eyes, and then she started sneaking looks at his body through her eyelashes, as if he couldn't seen that. He was about to make a comment about her checking him out when he remembered how she had run off with Leo. A green monster reared its head inside his chest, and his jealousy managed to override everything else.

"You need something?" he asked curtly, wishing he could slap himself the moment the sounds left his throat.

She flinched involuntarily, and the blood left her cheeks. "Nothing. It's – I'll see you around." But as she stepped back, he noticed the blood on her face, arm, and shirt, and a roaring in his ears blocked out everything else.

Grabbing her unhurt arm, he hauled her into the cabin, kicked the door closed, and sat her down gently on one of the beds. "Stay still for a moment," he muttered, and resumed searching through his food collection. He tossed her a square of ambrosia and took another for himself, bringing the bag with him as he sat facing her.

"So why are you really here?" he asked, more gently.

She focused on the food in her fingers. "Percy and I couldn't find you," she replied. "I thought you might be in here. He said you'd probably be pretty weak, since you don't usually summon so many and I wanted to…I wanted to see how you were."

"So where's Valdez then?"

Her expression took on a look of concern, and he felt jealousy dig its sharp claws into his chest. "He was hurt," she said softly. "He saved me from a hellhound and he's got this huge gash on his head. Annabeth took him – she says he'll be okay."

Nico stood abruptly. "You should go see if he's alright," he said. Taking her elbow in his hand, he walked her to the door, ignoring her hurt and confusion, which she was trying to hide. "He'll be in the Big House." And he closed the door, sinking to the floor after he did so, gripping his hair in his hands and trying to even out his breathing.

He knew he was definitely being quite rude, but he had lost control when he saw the concern she felt for Valdez. And he realized that in a way, Leo was better for her than he was. Leo was accepted – he was a powerful son of Hephaestus, he was funny, he was intelligent and talented. Whereas Nico was an outcast – he terrified nearly everyone he met. He finally understood how his father had felt, and why he had kidnapped Persephone instead of just getting down on one knee. He rubbed his eyes when the door opened again, and he groaned.

"What, you don't want to see me?" Percy joked, stepping in. "Put on a shirt, man, Carter may appreciate that view, but I've got better over here." He took a better look at his friend's face and raised his eyebrows. "Hey, you okay, Nico? What happened?"

"Nothing," Nico mumbled, pulling on a black button-down shirt and leaving the top couple buttons open.

"Sure. Really, what happened? Did she say something stupid?"

"No, she just worried about Valdez, so I told her she should go see him." Nico turned away, pouring some water into the hollow of his hand and rubbing the blood off his neck.

Percy sighed. He wasn't a son of Aphrodite, but he wasn't stupid – it was pretty obvious Nico was jealous. "Nico…"

The other boy fell back on his bed, yawning. His eyes were closing despite his best efforts – it was obvious he was exhausted. Feeling no need to hide his weakness from Percy, who had known he would be adversely affected, he closed his eyes.

"With great power comes great need to take a nap," he whispered, seeing his friend smile through his lashes. "Wake me up later."

"Your powers drain you too much," Percy responded. "I'll send Carter in to look in on you." Chuckling at the desperate but feeble attempt Nico made to protest before passing out, Percy left his friend fast asleep and left the cabin.

Carter smiled unconvincingly at Leo, appreciating his attempts to cheer her up but wishing he wouldn't keep barging in on her thoughts about a certain young man. She had seen the flash of jealousy and anger in Nico's eyes, but he had kicked her out before she had been able to really explain herself. _Great_ , she thought, _nowheprobablythinksIhaveacrushonLeo._ But then she remembered seeing Drew kissing Nico, and although Aphrodite had assured her than he had had no part in that Carter, wished that Nico would have at least mentioned it to her.

"Earth to Carter," Leo called, waving a calloused hand in front of her face. "Anyone home?"

"Yeah – what did you say?"

"I just wanted to say thanks…for coming to help when I asked you to," he said. He leaned forward, his face more serious than she had ever seen it. "We were in pretty bad shape till you came, and, well, yeah." His dark eyes found hers as his face drew closer. Before she understood what was happening, he had one hand behind her head and was kissing her.

Bang! The door slammed against the wall and Percy strode in, his eyes blazing.

"Get away from my sister NOW!" he yelled, and Leo jumped away from her as if burned. Percy turned to Carter , taking in her scared and sad expression. She was avoiding Leo's gaze, her cheeks pale.

"Hey, Percy, look man, I didn't –" Leo broke off when Percy grabbed him and slammed him against the wall.

"Don't even think about doing it again, understand?" Percy hissed. He was worried about Nico – if Nico heard about this before Carter or Percy got a chance to talk to him, he would take it as a clear rejection.

Leo's eyes searched for Carter's, trying to gauge her feelings. She looked at him sadly, and shook her head, blinking away tears as his disappointment showed clearly in his face. "Damn," he sighed. "I never get the girls I want, do I?" He slumped against the wall as Percy let him go, dragging his sister out of the room after him.

"Percy, where are we going?" Carter asked, running to keep up with her brother as he took long strides away from the Big House. "I didn't do it on purpose, Percy, I didn't even know he was going to try and –"

"I know," Percy said curtly, "But I saw Drew spying through the keyhole, which is how I came in. If she went and told Nico, in the event that she got into his cabin, then, well, it'll be a disaster. Come on." And he broke into a run, crossing the lawns to Cabin Thirteen.

As they drew closer, they recognized Drew at the porch, seizing the doorknob in one hand. The moment she touched the door, she was thrown backwards, and landed in a sprawling heap on the ground. Percy jumped over her, not even checking to see if she was okay, and Carter skirted past her, following Percy. They both entered quickly.

Nico was still asleep. A thin trickle of blood was still seeping from the wound on his neck, trailing down his chest and into his shirt. Carter bit her lip as she studied his sleeping form – he appeared to be so peaceful and still, unlike how he normally was. She felt hands on her shoulders, and suddenly Percy forced her down onto the mattress beside Nico.

"Stay here," he whispered. "He'll be glad to find you when he wakes up." As he reached the door, he turned back in time to see Carter smoothing Nico's hair away from his forehead. Smirking, he left.

Looking around, Carter saw a small bloodstained cloth lying on the table near Nico's bunk. He must have used it to wipe away the blood, she realized, and gingerly picked it up. Gently, trying not to hurt or wake him, she dabbed at his neck, cleaning the blood away. Her hair tickled his face and throat, and he opened his eyes to find her leaning over him, unaware that he was awake. She rubbed a little too hard, and he let out an involuntary gasp of pain, signaling to her that he was awake. She sat back abruptly, blushing and depositing the cloth where she had found it.

Pushing himself up on his elbows, he yawned and looked at her. "What's up?"

Something was wrong – he could tell by the way she lowered her eyes uncomfortably and sighed before speaking. "Nico, I went to see Leo, and…he kissed me."

His dark eyes, so full of pain and sadness on almost any day, narrowed. "Well, it was pretty obvious you two were going to become a couple. Congratulations," he said coldly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused. She and Leo, a couple? Oh no. "Nico, you don't understand, Leo and I, we –"

"So now you two are a 'we,' huh?" he snapped. "I'm not blind, I could see the way he mooned after you. But tell me, did you just enjoy the attention, or do you really like that idiot?"

"He isn't an idiot," she said indignantly, "And I do not enjoy attention. And it's not really any of your business anyway –"

"Of course it is!" he exploded. "You barge in here and tell me you kissed Leo, and then you expect me to –"

"I didn't expect you to do anything!" she shouted, standing up so suddenly she nearly lost her balance. "And at least I told you about it! I saw you and Drew making out behind the armory that day, you know." She stomped to the door, and yanked it open. "Oh, and Leo and I aren't a couple," she snapped. "I told him I didn't want to date him. But at least he's an honest guy, unlike you." Slamming the door, she fled before he could see the tears falling from her eyes.

But then, she wasn't giving Nico enough credit. He was perceptive enough to hear the quiver in her voice long before the first tear even formed, and he had felt so incredibly guilty when she attacked him with her last few comments – that she had seen him with Drew, and that she had turned Leo down. She had rejected Valdez, but had felt the need to confess to him that they had kissed. And in return for her honesty, what had he done? Yelled at her, misunderstood her, hurt her, and then yelled some more.

"I'm an idiot," he groaned, leaning against the bunk bed.

"Yes, you are," a softly amused voice said. Bianca's ghost shimmered against the wall as she watched her brother. "But you can still fix it, you know."

"How, Bianca?" he muttered. "She probably doesn't want to see my face again, especially after she turned Valdez down for me and I treated her so badly."

She laughed. "And how do you know she turned Leo down for you, little brother? Maybe she just doesn't like either of you."

A flash of his old arrogance lent a smile to his face. "She definitely likes me," he said. "She can't hide it too well. But it's…complicated for her, that much is obvious."

"Well, you can't really hide anything from anyone either, you know? Even Father has noticed that you like her, and really, Nico, he's not too pleased. So you'd better get a move on before he decides to interfere. Just tell her how you feel, little brother, and apologize and explain about Drew. It's hurting her more than you know.

And also, just remember that love is never easy for us, Nico. Children of Hades, we are bonded strongly to each other, yes, but because of the way others see and treat us, we find it hard to give ourselves to others. Just don't be afraid of her. She will never intentionally hurt you. And if she realizes how much you care, she will treasure your heart when you finally give it to her. I wish you luck," she said softly. "I love you, brother." She reached her hand out towards him and disappeared.

"I love you too," he murmured, staring at the place where she had vanished. Time to look for that elusive daughter of Poseidon.

 **A/N: Pleease review! I hope you liked it, and even if you didn't, please tell me what I can do better!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: OHMIGOSH I just wanted to thank everyone for the amazing positive feedback I got for the last chapter! I really wasn't sure about it but all of you were so supportive! I love you guys so much – hugs for everyone!**

Chapter 11

Carter was lying on her stomach on the grassy top of the climbing wall, staring out over Long Island Sound. Angrily brushing away the tears that wouldn't stop rolling down her cheeks, she laid her head on her hands and closed her eyes, listening to the sound of the water. Her father was out there somewhere, she knew, but sometimes she wished she could meet him. Percy had told her about him, but it wasn't the same. Not really. She would never really know her father, just as she would never really know Nico. The tears started again, and she buried her face in the ground, crying silently. It was impossible for her to even pretend that his treatment of her hadn't hurt.

Hearing light footsteps behind her, Carter pretended to be asleep, hoping the intruder would go away.

"Carter," Nico's deep voice whispered, his hand touching her shoulder blade lightly. She tried to keep still, but his touch caused her to shiver involuntarily, and he instantly knew she wasn't asleep. Drat.

"What do you want?" she choked out. Carter turned to face him, and saw his eyes shutter up almost immediately when he saw her tear-stained face. She wiped her cheeks and turned away from him, watching the waves.

"I'm sorry," he breathed. When she didn't respond, he sat down next to her, ignoring the way she edged away from him a little. "I really am sorry,Carter," he repeated. She blushed at the way he said her name with so much regret and longing, but her curtain of hair thankfully hid that from him.

"You said you saw me making out with Drew," he continued in a low voice, "But I didn't intend to kiss her. She came up to me when I was leaving the forge and said she had a question about her new knife to ask me. She came towards me carrying one, and I thought she was just going to show it to me, and then she sort of grabbed me and kissed me before I could do anything about it."

"You have such quick reflexes," Carter whispered, trying to keep her voice steady, "So why couldn't you avoid her?"

"I wasn't paying much attention," he said. "And I felt bad about just shoving her away – I ended up shadow-traveling back to my cabin." He put his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards him gently. "The reason I wasn't paying attention to her was because I saw you standing at the outside of the arena, and you had this lost look on your face and you looked so beautiful." He studied her face, the high cheekbones, the reddening complexion, those large eyes that were lowered to the ground in embarrassment, and the lone tear that clung to one of her long eyelashes. Brushing it away, he leaned in. "I…I'm not really any good at this," he confessed, "But I want to give us a try. If you want to, that is, I won't force you or anything, but I mean I just –"

Carter's insides were instantly dancing when he told her she looked beautiful, and when he said in a roundabout, twisted and totally endearing way that he wanted to have a relationship with her, not even all the hurt he had caused her, inadvertently or not, could have changed her mind.

She placed a slender finger on his lips, silencing him. "That's a great idea," she whispered. "But there's a catch. There's something you should know first." Carter told him everything Aphrodite had told her, and she couldn't meet his eyes when she finished, positive he was going to change his mind about her. So when she heard his deep chuckle, she couldn't believe her ears.

Nico laughed softly, smiling his amazing smile. "You think that's enough to change my mind? Zeus goes around wanting to kill everyone – I don't even know if he likes his own kids very much. He's been after me for forever, but picking a fight with my father is usually not the best idea. And so what if we screw Olympus over a bit? Change can be good, and you can teach old god's new tricks. Percy proved that."

The way he looked at her made her melt inside – his eyes were so full of hope and love (even though he may not know it yet) that she snuggled into his broad, strong chest, pushing her face into his shirt and wrapping her arms around his slim waist. She inhaled his scent and smiled, feeling happier than she had in a long time as his arms wrapped around her small body. They sat together till the sunset, skipping dinner and barely talking, just enjoying the feeling of finally being together.

After eating with Nico in his cabin (she couldn't believe the food Nico had stored with him), Carter returned to her cabin and showered. She liked to air-dry her hair, and was sitting on the bed in pink sleep pants and a slightly short tank top when there was a knock on the door. Percy hadn't come in yet – he had been with Annabeth the last time she'd seen him, so Carter assumed it was him. But when she opened the door, she staggered backwards as someone with flaming red hair nearly knocked her over.

"Jessie?" Carter laughed, closing the door. "What's up?"

Apollo's daughter brushed her straight red hair away from her dark blue eyes (a stunning combination, in Lily's opinion), and grinned a grin reminiscent of her confident father. "Did he kiss you?"

"What?" Carter blinked, not understanding the other girl's question. "Who?"

Jessie plopped down on the nearest bunk, sighing contentedly at the comfort. "Nico, you idiot, who else? I'm assuming you said yes to him? 'Cause if not, I'll take him. And ohmygosh, these beds are so damn soft. Can I just stay here? Slumber party?"

Carter giggled. "Sure. We'll make Annabeth stay over too? I'll kick Percy out for tonight – he shouldn't get too upset."

"Fantastic! Annabeth makes wonderful popcorn. Do you guys have a TV?" She looked around the cabin. "What? Children of a Big Three and no humongous TV? What is this?"

"Well, I guess it would be nice if we had one, but…" Carter trailed off, staring at the wall above the seawater fountain that was gurgling away happily. The abalone had shifted, revealing a crazily big flat-screen TV. A cabinet had appeared in the corner, and when the girls opened it, they found practically every movie imaginable stored inside.

"AWESOME!" Jessie yelled into her friend's ear. "Can I trade you dads? This is amazing. And you didn't answer my questions. Did you say yes to Nico, and did he kiss you?"

Carter rolled her eyes. "Yes, I said yes, and no, he didn't kiss me. And how do you know?"

"What? Come on, dude. You both skipped dinner – you realize rumors are flying all over the place about you two, right? No one could fail to notice that you two were gone because there aren't very many people who eat at your tables. It was obvious. You'd better hope Percy isn't killing Nico right now. So tell me, what DID you guys do? Oh, and I know because I told him where you were. He was looking for you, and he knew we're friends, so he asked if I'd seen you, and I had, so I told him where to find you."

"Nothing! We just sat with each other for a while, and we had dinner in his cabin and watched that new Rom-Com movie on his TV. It's even bigger than this one," she smiled, gesturing toward the one her father had provided. Instantly, it grew a little bigger, as if Poseidon was miffed at being told he was second-best to Hades. Lily giggled. "And thank you. I owe you my boyfriend." She started laughing harder.

Jessie leaned forward, narrowing her midnight-blue eyes. "We're friends, right,Carter? So come on, you have to tell me more than – Oh, hi guys!"

Carter turned around, twisting a damp strand of hair around a finger and smiling as Percy and Annabeth entered. Their hands were intertwined, and Carter smirked as she realized Percy's lips were shimmery again – he really needed to tell Annabeth to wear a less shiny lip gloss.

She stole a glance at Jessie, and they were caught with a fit of giggles when each realized that the other had noticed too. Annabeth understood a few minutes later, and blushed, whispering something in Percy's ear.

"Shut up," he told the girls, hiding a smile as he wiped off the offending lip gloss with the back of his hand.

"Jackson, you can leave now," Jessie announced. "Annabeth's staying though."

"You can't kick me out of my bachelor pad," Percy asserted, hiding a grin.

"Funny," Carter remarked, curling up on a plushy sea-green armchair, "I thought this was my bachelorette pad. And we want to have a slumber party in here – me, Jessie, and Annabeth."

"So unless you want to listen to us comparing notes on our boyfriends, you should leave," Jessie said, examining the nail polish on her index finger.

Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth, who cuddled into his side as they sat on the sofa. "Oh, I don't know," he mused. "It'd be interesting to hear what the Wise Girl thinks of me."

"Pleeeease, Percy?" Carter begged, giving him the oh-so-irresistible Bambi eyes she had perfected years ago.

He sighed and got up. "I'll go crash at Nico's, then. See you guys."

"Wish you were him,Carter ?" Jessie winked at her friend and pretended to cower as Percy glared at her before walking out the door. "Wait – I need clothes to sleep in. Can we drop by the Apollo cabin?"

"And Athena," Annabeth said. "I need sleep clothes too. Let's go."

Carter grabbed one of Percy's Under Armour clothing that fell down to the middle of her thighs, and the three of them went to Apollo's cabin first. Carter caught her breath when she got a good look at it. From the outside, it was made of nearly solid gold – with just enough "other stuff" mixed in, according to Jessie, to keep it solid. Inside was another story.

Each person had decorated the wall behind their bunk with pictures of favorite singers or bands. A huge poster of Apollo decorated the farthest wall. Bows and arrows were on display, as well as other projectiles – basketballs, soccer balls, footballs, and rocks for when they were in really bad moods. Several campers were strumming guitars from the tops of their bunks, and Will Solace was singing loudly from his upper bunk to the accompaniment of the guitars, a can of Coke in his hand. The girls were all congregated in small groups of threes or fours, giggling over jokes or YouTube videos. Music clashing with the guitars and Will was playing from the stereo system installed throughout the cabin. Annabeth was giggling silently at Apollo's children, but Carter was more preoccupied with the pictures of Nico that she found taped next to Jesse McCartney and David Archuleta behind many of the girls' beds.

"Okay, let's go," Jessie shouted over the cacophony, reappearing near her friends with a Forever 21 bag full of her sleepwear and other things. "Come ON, guys, before Will starts singing You Belong With Me. It's not fun." She dragged the other two out of the cabin.

Athena's cabin was much quieter. Smartboards were humming on the walls, and the silver curtains were closed against the moonlight. Malcolm and one of his brothers were arguing about battle strategies on the biggest Smartboard, scribbling all over it with illegible scrawls as they debated. Several other campers were kneeling around a large map of the camp, going over strategies for defense. Annabeth quickly gathered her stuff into a gray silk bag with an owl on it and skedaddled before she could be asked for guidance. She stuffed her silver laptop into the bag as well, earning eye-rolls from her friends.

Ten minutes later, they were leaning on the counters of the small kitchenette in the back of the cabin. Annabeth was in charge of popcorn and carter was making the hot chocolate ( **A/N:That's a sleepover combination I love!),** so Jessie stared around idly, looking at the décor.

"Hey,Carter, can I look through those?" she asked, pointing at the photo albums Percy had stored near the fireplace.

"Yeah, just wait for a few minutes till this stuff is done – we'll go through them together. I haven't seen them yet either."

Curling up on the rug in front of the fire, they began flipping through Percy's photo albums. The first few were filled with pictures of him, Annabeth, and Grover. But the fourth had several pictures of a younger Percy and a younger Nico, both of them standing in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, eating gelatos and waving at the camera.

"Aww, he was so cute! And look, he wasn't wearing black!" Jessie poked the photo-Nico's red, white, and green shirt with her finger. "So, tell me, what's he really like? None of us really know – he keeps to himself for some reason."

Annabeth blew on her hot chocolate and sipped some gingerly. "Isn't it obvious, Jessie? It's basic psychology – and not even that. The kid's smart. He knows that most people are downright scared of him because of who he is and what he can do, and that others just don't trust him because of his father. He hasn't even done anything wrong – in fact, he's only been helpful. He stays away from people because he doesn't want to be judged anymore. Percy says he's a really good guy if you just give him a chance, and I'm glad Carter's doing that." She smiled.

"He is a really sweet guy," Carter concurred. "He's really opinionated, though, and he knows exactly what he wants and how to get it."

"Like you!" Jessie squealed, and collapsed into a giggling fit. Annabeth sighed loudly.

"Come on, Annabeth," Jessie said. "You don't need intelligent company every two minutes. Even Percy isn't that smart, but you put up with him, don't you?"

"Yeah, but he's a good kisser," Annabeth said with a straight face, and then joined the laughter.

"Hey, do you guys know anything about Nico's sister?" Jessie asked suddenly, sobering up.

"He has a sister?" Carter asked, surprised.

"I think so," Jessie replied. "I heard one of the Ares kids muttering something about her and some Hunters a few days ago, but I wasn't sure who to talk to about it."

"Had," Annabeth said quietly, her face serious. "She was…two years older than him, I think. Her name was Bianca – Bianca di Angelo. She was really sweet. She'd been taking care of him for years; their mother died when they were very young. Zeus killed her, but he'd been aiming for the children. Hades managed to protect them, but he was too slow to save their mother. Bianca died years ago – they were on a quest, and she gave her life for her friends. They never even found her body." She sighed. "Percy told me all of this, and I'd really appreciate it if you guys don't spread it around. But it's pretty much why Nico's so withdrawn – he's basically lost his entire family over the years. It cut him up for a while, and Percy felt really guilty, because he'd promised to take care of her."

Carter stared at the rug, playing with the tassels absentmindedly. Poor Nico. No wonder he was so hesitant to really get close to people – he'd lost everyone he'd actually loved.

"Man, that sucks. I feel real bad, not that it was my fault or anything, but, Ya know? I should stop talking ," Jessie whispered.

Annabeth nodded. "I really don't know how he's managed to be such a good person in spite of it all. With the powers he has, he could probably kill all of us in our sleep if he wanted to."

"I don't think he needs those death-god abilities to do it," Jessie grinned suddenly. "Carter, have you checked his muscles out yet? He's built like a god." She sighed, adding whipped cream to her third mug of hot chocolate and staring at it absently.

Carter giggled. "They're not huge until he flexes, but when he does – wow, he's got some big guns there."

"Okay, this isn't getting me anywhere!" Jessie whined. "I need details! Minute stuff! Does he have any tattoos? How big are his hands? What color is his hair in the light? I mean, come on!"

Annabeth rubbed her eyes. "Guys, I'm dead tired. Can we just go to bed?"

"No WAY." Jessie jumped up and opened the freezer. She grabbed three cartons of ice cream and sat back down with spoons.

"I call the chocolate," she said.

"I'm not that hungry," Carter announced.

"Fine with me," Annabeth smiled, opening the cookie dough carton. "Mmm, I love this stuff." She stretched out on the floor.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, and then Carter spoke up. "Nico's worried about why the gods aren't telling us anything," she said. "I mean, whatever we know has been told to us when it shouldn't have been – remember Chiron saying he shouldn't be telling us about Kronos freezing our ages?"

"Yes," Annabeth said, laying her spoon in the box of ice cream. "I agree with him. Something is badly wrong. It's like they're scared of something…but what? Kronos shouldn't have the energy to reform, so unless…" She trailed off, a worried look in her eyes. "Guys, I need to check something." She pulled out her laptop, and for once, Jessie didn't object.

Mumbling to herself in ancient Greek, Annabeth typed in a few words, and bit her lip. "Oh no. Damn, I didn't think that…Guys, we have a problem."

"Is that an understatement?" Jessie asked, sucking her spoon. "Great," she muttered, when Annabeth didn't answer. "What do we do now? Tell Chiron."

"No," Annabeth said. "We aren't going to tell him anything until we know everything. And right now, we don't. So this is what we're going to do. Carter, will you run down to Cabin Thirteen and bring Percy and Nico over here? I'm going to find Thalia. Don't pull faces,Carter, she's smart, powerful, and she'll be good to have around when we plan our strategy. And then we're going to figure out exactly what's going on and what we need to do to deal with it."

"Okay," Carter Said. " Sliding her feet into a pair of Nike shoes, she ran out the door. Annabeth didn't look happy at all as she stood up to find Thalia in Cabin Eight. This couldn't be good.

 **A/N: So, another chapter is uppp. Please review! I love to hear from you guys, it always makes me happy to see what you have to say. Thanks everyone and see you next chapter!**


	12. Chapter 13

Hey there! OHMYGODS! I just wanted to thank everyone for the Follows, reviews, and a bunch of other nice things! I especially wanted to that, Luminous Crystal for her AMAZING reviews! Did you know she has her own story *Gasps*

Chapter 12

Carter opened the door to Nico's cabin and looked around in shock, letting the door close soundlessly behind her. The walls must have been soundproof, because inside the cabin was a far cry from the silence outside. Sound engulfed her – loud rock music was blaring, but she couldn't see any speakers anywhere. In front of her, Percy and Nico were…oh gods. They were sparring, but with their hands, not swords. She watched them, fascinated.

Percy moved efficiently – he didn't waste his energy. Every move he made was necessary and well-placed, and somehow it reminded her of the way Annabeth fought. Maybe they'd learned from the same person, Carter mused. But it was Nico who held her attention. His style was graceful – he moved like a cat, and was more flexible than his opponent. And even his jerkiest movements had an innate grace to them that made her breath catch in her throat. His forearms were strong and corded – somehow she loved the way his veins protruded from his arms. It made them seem that much more powerful and masculine to her. Just when she leaned against the door, indulging herself in the enjoyable pastime of simply watching him, he turned his head and saw her.

Ducking away from Percy, he walked over. "Hey," he said softly, stroking her cheek lightly, fascinated with the light blush that appeared where he touched her.

"Hi," she breathed, watching the way his neck and collarbone moved as he panted slightly from the exertion, and wishing that he'd taken his shirt off so she could have a better view. Her cheeks reddened, and Nico smirked at her.

"What's going on? Why are you here? Is everyone okay?" Percy walked over, pulling Nico's hand away from her face and pretending he hadn't done anything. His innocent face didn't look at all convincing.

"Annabeth had some sort of epiphany," she said. "She wanted me to bring you two to Cabin Three so we could talk about it. She says she has an idea of what's going on right now. She went to get Thalia."

Percy nodded. "We're coming. Let's go, Nico." He pushed Carter out the door and followed with Nico.

They reached the cabin, and found Thalia, Jessie, and Annabeth standing around and talking. Percy dunked his head under the saltwater fountain, and rolled his eyes when Nico snickered.

"Don't laugh," Percy muttered. "It makes me feel better when I'm tired." He shook his head and the water droplets sprayed Thalia, who jumped and mock-glared at him. "Sorry."

"Okay, everybody sit down and I'll explain. Oh, and I need…where's Nico?" Annabeth looked around the cabin.

"Right here," Nico said, melting out of the shadows in which he'd been hiding. Jessie shrieked at his sudden appearance and then buried her face in Carter's shoulder, blushing. Nico grinned. "It makes me feel better if I'm tired. Be one with your source, right, Percy?" He sat on the floor, resting his forearms on his knees and leaning forward slightly.

Carter settled herself between Nico's legs and leaned back against his warm chest, feeling his chin drop onto her head. She smiled and studiously avoided Jessie's eyes while waiting for Annabeth to start.

"So earlier this summer, I noticed that there's been a lot of strange weather recently," Annabeth began, placing her laptop on her knees as she sat on Percy's lap, ignoring his pretended grimace at the extra (and negligible) weight. "I just did some quick research, and apparently Aeolus filed a complaint about rogue storm spirits a few years ago, right after Kronos was defeated. As far as I can tell, the gods paid him very little attention, and life went on. But there are also more monsters roaming around, and I thought there might be a connection, so I did some more research using Daedalus' search engine, and I found something out." She closed the laptop lid with a click, waiting for its humming to die away before continuing. "Basically, the chaos that Kronos very nearly unleashed didn't just disappear – all those monsters that nearly escaped Tartarus are still escaping. Hades either didn't notice or didn't care enough to stop them properly, and enough are getting out that they can still attack us at camp and cause some serious disasters. Kronos is probably spread out in a very thin layer over the world, but I think he sensed the increase in chaos and did his best to make us more vulnerable."

Thalia frowned. "So basically, because Hades isn't doing his job and Kronos nearly wrecked the world, monsters are using the pathway Kronos left open to escape Tartarus?"

Carter felt Nico tense behind her and decided to speak up before things got out of hand. "Well, it's not exactly Hades' fault," she said. "He probably has other things to worry about –"

Thalia scoffed. "Yeah, right," she snapped. "Get your facts straight, girl. He's useless! They had a reason for kicking him off Olympus – he's dangerous, unstable, and downright lazy! So… If di Angelo is gonna cry, make sure he does it in the corner"

The atmosphere shifted, suddenly becoming darker, and Carter was conscious of an intense cold near her right arm. Looking down, she pushed herself into Nico's left arm as she realized he'd drawn his knife, and was holding it in his right hand, caressing the blade lightly with his thumb. His silent message was far more eloquent than a verbal one – that knife spoke of a thirst for blood. She shivered, and he gently rubbed circles on her left hand to soothe her.

"Thalia, back off a bit," Annabeth sighed. "Hades really does have a lot to deal with – I'm the architect here, and I know. I visited the Underworld a while back, and the traffic down there is horrendous. There's spirits running all over the place because so many people died, and things are still not really calmed down. He's got Daedalus working on the traffic, but he has to keep control of everything else – it isn't easy."

"So what are we going to do?" Jessie asked, tucking her hair behind her ear. She smirked to herself when she noticed Nico caressing Carter's hand almost unconsciously – those two were so perfect for each other.

"We are going on a little quest," Annabeth announced, her gray eyes sparkling.

Percy groaned. "I've had enough adventure for a lifetime," he complained. "Can't we sit back and let someone else take care of it?"

"No way," Thalia grinned, electricity crackling through her hair suddenly. She ignored the way Jessie flinched back in alarm and said, "The gods will think we're being stupid and paranoid – they never believe us till it's too late. So, which of us are going?"

Annabeth stood up. "All of us."

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You heard," Annabeth said, knowing Thalia was going to argue. "We need everyone in this room if we're going to succeed. And, Thalia, can I talk to you outside for a minute?"

The two girls stepped out, and Annabeth sighed. "Thalia, I know you don't like Nico, but can you please tone it down? He's not that whining, sad little boy anymore – he's a good guy, he's dating Carter, and Percy trusts him – isn't that good enough for you?"

"He's the reason Bianca died," Thalia snarled. "Can you forgive him for that? She didn't deserve it – she was a really sweet person. If he hadn't driven her up the wall so many times, she wouldn't have been so desperate to escape her life, and she wouldn't have ended up dead. Do you know how much I wish that hadn't happened?" Her voice broke.

"That's so unfair," Annabeth hissed. "Listen to me, Thalia. You cannot blame him for that – do you know how torn up he was when she died? I think you do. He loved her – he still does!"

"But he was the reason," Thalia repeated.

"No he wasn't," Annabeth sighed. "Thalia, please. Don't blame him for that, and try to play nice. Pleeeease?"

Thalia ran a hand through her short hair, closing her eyes. "Fine."

"Thank you!" Annabeth flung her arms around Thalia, feeling suddenly giddy. "Oh, and Carter is included. She's really sweet, and one day Percy is going to snap if you keep treating her and his best friend badly."

Thalia muttered something to herself, and they went back inside. Nico and Percy were talking quietly in the corner, and the two other girls were squealing on the couch about something they were looking at on a sleek black laptop that Carter was holding.

"What're you guys looking at?" Annabeth asked, perching on the sofa next to Jessie.

"Pictures of their Italy trip last summer," Carter answered, tilting the screen so Annabeth could see too. "Nico uploaded them onto his laptop."

"They both looked so cute!" Jessie gushed.

"Hey," Annabeth interjected, "That's my boyfriend you're ogling!" She laughed and stood up. "So, Thalia and I agreed," she said, raising her voice slightly. "ALL of us are going to make sure that Tartarus gets closed properly."

"Are you sure?" Nico asked, eyeing Thalia mistrustful. "If we don't work as a team, this is going to be useless – and I know she doesn't want to work with me. One of us will have to stay, or we'll jeopardize the entire thing."

"She will work with you," Annabeth assured him, ignoring Thalia's skeptical expression. "Anyway, I think we should leave tomorrow night – that gives us enough time to get everything together." She yawned. "We'll meet here tomorrow night at eight, okay? Good night, everyone." She hugged Percy and walked out the door.

Thalia and Jessie left next, leaving Nico alone with Poseidon's children.

"I'll just…bathroom…" Percy mumbled, and walked away, leaving the others alone.

Nico stepped towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled. "Come here."

Moving closer, she let him wrap her arms around her and laid her head on his chest. "Are you scared?" she whispered, fisting his shirt with her small hands.

"No, should I be?" he chuckled, pressing his face into her hair. It smelled of blueberries, making him smile. Blueberries were one of his favorite smells, along with cinnamon and citrus.

"I am," she confessed. "We have to go the Underworld! What if Cerberus tries to eat us, or the Furies attack us, or –"

"Or just maybe," he interrupted, "You have a son of Hades going with you who is more than capable of getting himself and all of you through the Underworld unharmed." She softened a little in his arms, and he tightened his grip. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. Get some sleep." He walked away after giving her one last squeeze, and she stood in the doorway, still feeling his arms around her.

She woke up a few hours later from a restless sleep. Her dreams had been troubled – full of slashing talons and screams. Pouring herself a glass of water, she pulled a book out from below her pillow, hoping to escape into another world. But it was no use – she couldn't focus. Closing the paperback, she stowed it away again. Wrapping herself in the sheets, she curled up and closed her eyes, praying to her father to keep the nightmares away.

On Mount Olympus, two goddesses were wandering in the gardens, discussing the couple that Aphrodite had lovingly nicknamed "Cartico" even before they had actually hooked up.

"My husband isn't going to like this," Persephone warned. "He's gotten very protective of that boy – he nearly bit my head off when I turned Nico into a dandelion."

Aphrodite giggled. "Well, Cartico is so cute that honestly, I don't think Hades has a choice. They've gone up on my wall, and they are not going down. Besides, they're trying to go on a quest together! How adorable." She smiled dreamily.

Rolling her eyes, Persephone sighed. "Alright, Aph, but please don't force them together. Hades won't stand for it, and you really don't want to make him angry."

"Okay, I won't," Aphrodite said cheerfully. "How's Poseidon taking the news, do you know?"

"You really don't keep up with the news, do you?" Persephone laughed lightly. "While you were fixing your hair, there's been a huge hurricane brewing near Italy. In the Mediterranean – can you imagine that? Hermes is complaining he doesn't know what to do with the mortals. They're going crazy, apparently. Poseidon isn't happy at all. He's very protective, a lot like his son, you know, and the idea of any boy running his hands all over his baby girl gives him the shivers."

Aphrodite plucked a pink rose and smelled it. "Beautiful," she murmured. "You know, whenever I see a new couple, I think of them and pick a rose. The better it smells, the more beautiful yet challenging their love will be. And see, this one smells fantastic. It doesn't matter if neither of their parents approve. Sometimes the best flavors are forbidden."

"Why couldn't I have powers like that?" Persephone whined, taking the rose from the other goddess. "All I can do is change things into flowers. Mmm, yes, this smells wonderful. So this is an automatic prediction of their coming experience?" She twirled the rose in her fingers, and it turned into a pink lily with streaks of black through it. "What do you think?" She proffered the rose.

"Symbolizes them quite nicely," Aphrodite replied, tucking the lily into Persephone's hair. "And it's not a fail-safe prediction, but it usually works quite well. Being the love goddess gives you all sorts of interesting abilities." Smiling, she stood still as a pair of doves flew towards her and settled on her shoulders, cooing softly.

Persephone nodded, her eyes far away. "What did my rose smell like?"

"When you married Hades, you mean?" Aphrodite questioned, not liking her friend's sudden sadness and pain. "Honestly, Persephone, it smelled…tangy. A powerful, sweet, but at the same time slightly sour love is what you headed into your relationship with. The problem was that you didn't return his feelings, and that probably didn't go down with him too well, right? But there is potential to turn it into something sweet, love. You just have to find it. Men are never indifferent, no matter how much they pretend they are. Now let's go back inside, shall we? I really want to sample those chocolate bunnies my new beau gave me last night."

A/N: So this chapter was a little shorter than I like to have them nowadays, but I hope it answers your questions! . So thanks to everyone who favorited/subscribed/reviewed, and please REVIEWWWWWW! I tried not to make it too apocalyptic, but I hope you guys are okay with the "plot." Again, I WILL start updating on a regular basis! Sorry to those of you who lost my story for a while! :) R&R!


	13. Chapter 14

**A/N: Brownies and cookies for everyone! Thank you so much for the reviews and favoriting and subscribing – it really made me very happy. I just realized I have so many reviews for this story – it's amazing how supportive all of you are. Thank you very very much!**

Chapter 14

The next morning, Thalia woke everyone up at six to begin discussing their plans. "We need to figure out what we're doing – are we returning to the Underworld?"

"I don't think all of us should go," Percy said, sitting cross-legged on top of his sleeping bag. "We need some of us to return to camp, tell them what's going on, and make sure they're up to scratch. The rest of us should get back to the Underworld and try to limit the number of monsters that are actually escaping from Tartarus."

Annabeth twirled her blonde hair around a finger. "What do you think, Nico? Nico?"

The boy in question yawned loudly, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "What?"

"Get out of that sleeping bag already!" Thalia scolded. "I woke you up fifteen minutes ago. We're trying to talk to you!"

"Yeah, whatever, did you say something?" He looked expectantly at Annabeth, and listened as she elaborated on her question. "I'm definitely going to the Underworld," he said, "And I need to take either Percy or Carter with me for sure. Thalia will be useless – no offense, Thalia – because she and I can't work together well enough to merge our powers."

"You take Carter," Percy decided. "Annabeth, Thalia, and I will go back to camp – can you take Jessie with you?"

"Yes, we can," Carteranswered for her boyfriend.

"I don't know," Jessie said. "I mean – the Underworld is kind of scary, and I don't know if I can –"

"Okay, you know what? Annabeth and I will go with Nico and Lily, and you go back with Thalia." Percy stood up and stretched. "Meeting adjourned, people. Do you know where the coffee is, Wise Girl?"

As they all began to move around, the girls rushing to be the first into the built-in bathroom that the Hunters had managed to include in the tent's design, Carter saw Nico creep out of the tent's flap and followed him, grabbing one mug of coffee and a glass of orange juice on her way out. He was sitting on a bench in the park, a ways away from the tent – since they had slept in their day clothes, they didn't look too conspicuous, just a little ruffled.

Handing him a mug, she sat beside him. "Hey," she smiled, nudging him with her shoulder lightly.

He smiled back and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. "You look beautiful," he whispered, pressing his lips to her cheek gently. She blushed and lowered her eyes, and he smirked, loving the effect he had on her. He leaned in again, kissing her forehead, when he heard someone clearing his throat behind them.

"Excuse me, young man," a tall, dark-haired man said, "But my wife is having some trouble with her cell phone. I was wondering if you could come over here and take a look at it?"

Nico nodded. "Sure. Be right back, Carter ." He kissed her hair and walked away with the other man, who led him into a clump of trees far enough away that Carter was out of earshot.

"You can drop the disguise now," Nico snapped.

The man's exterior shifted, and Nico was standing face-to-face with a tall, still dark-haired man with piercing green eyes, scarred hands, and a tan. Poseidon narrowed his eyes at the insolent boy in front of him. "Stay away from her."

"What?"

"You heard me," Poseidon growled. "Stay away from my daughter. She's too young to be in a relationship with _any_ one, and I will not have –"

Nico scoffed. "Don't try to order me around," he snarled. "My father is just as powerful as you are – you can't intimidate me. She's old enough to take care of herself, and if she doesn't want me around she'll let me know. You don't need to get mixed up in this."

"Yes I do," Poseidon insisted. "She's my daughter, you can't just –"

"Yeah, and some father you've been," Nico retorted, smirking slightly as Poseidon's expression showed his guilt. "Completely ignoring her, letting her get nearly killed by monsters – she doesn't even know what you look like! She only knows vague things about you because Percy actually cared enough to tell her, but it's not the same as actually knowing you." He lowered his voice. "And as of right now, if she had to choose between you and me, she would take me."

Poseidon's green eyes blazed suddenly, and the aura of power around him increased. "Do not speak to me like that," he said quietly, his voice scarier than it would have been had he shouted. "I only want what is best for my daughter, and she would have been better off with Leo Valdez instead of you. I know you understand what I'm saying, di Angelo."

Nico stared the irate father in the eyes, not deigning to reply.

The god eyed the boy with a mixture of irritation and admiration. "Zeus wants her dead right now, because she is dating you," he informed him. "You had better take good care of her. If you mess up even once…"

"You'll blast me into a puddle of seawater, blah, blah, blah," Nico muttered, rolling his dark eyes. "If you're done whining, she's waiting for me."

The god's eyes glowed. "Be careful, son of Hades," Poseidon warned. "I am not as quick to anger as Zeus. But you had better watch your tongue, or one of these days someone will lose their patience with you, and you will wish you had never chosen to mess with us. I came here to try and dissuade you from a relationship with her because Aphrodite has foreseen a turbulent future for you both – she will be safer, if not happier, without you. Do you want to risk her safety for your pleasure? Think about it." And he melted away into the crisp morning air.

"Nico? Nico!" Percy jogged up to him. "Was that…"

"Your father," Nico said.

"What did he want? Don't tell me he told you to ditch her." When his friend didn't answer, Percy sighed. "Let him be. We sea-god types are a little protective of our women." He chuckled, seeing Nico crack a small smile.

"She's my woman, not yours," Nico grinned, punching his friend's shoulder playfully. "Go back to Annabeth, I have to go find Carter and my coffee."

They walked back to the tent together, and paused when they heard muffled shouting coming from inside it. Upon entering it, they found Thalia pinning Leo to the ground with her spear shaft pointed at his throat. Jessie was pulling on Thalia's shoulder, screaming obscenities at her, and Leo was struggling while trying to avoid the sharp point near his neck. Annabeth sat in the corner, watching with raised eyebrows.

"Let him up!" Percy bellowed, and Jessie shoved Thalia so roughly that the latter fell over. "Leo, what are you doing here?"

"I thought you guys might need some help," Leo muttered, rubbing his arm, "And I thought fire might be a useful weapon to have with you when you go wherever you're going. So I followed you guys."

"How did you even find us? No, that's not important right now. Nico…" Percy looked at his friend, asking silently for his opinion.

Nico mussed up his hair, closing his eyes. "He's going back to camp with Thalia and Jessie," he decided. "We already have four of us going to the Underworld – I think that's enough."

"Before we go back," Thalia interrupted, "I think we should go to the Underworld one more time. We need to get a better sense of what exactly is going on and what we're going to be up against first."

"I agree," Annabeth added, standing up and walking over. "So Nico, Percy, and Leo, you three figure out how we're going to get there. Thalia and I will contact our backups and camp and keep them on standby. Carter and Jessie…do something."

Five minutes later, Carter and Jessie were sitting at a small table at the nearby Starbucks, blowing on their coffee and talking.

"Hey, there's something I wanted to ask you," Carter said, wrapping her hands around her cup. "Are you and Leo, you know, going out? He was staring at you like he couldn't possibly tear his eyes from you."

Jessie blushed, and Carter whooped. "Shut up," Jessie mumbled. "You're the one getting all mushy with the hottest boy at camp – I saw you two staring lovingly into each other's eyes last night." She giggled and ducked as Carter playfully threw a packet of sugar in her direction.

"Okay, spill," Carter demanded. "When did you guys even hook up? And how come I found out now?"

"It was the day we left," Jessie sighed. "It all happened so fast – I walked into the forge and he was by himself, and you should've seen the coffee machine he built in like three seconds. It was fantastic, and I told him so, and you know he has those dark eyes that seem to be sparkling the whole time with some sort of joke? So I was just looking at him, and all of a sudden he just kissed me!"

"You let him?"

"I was hoping he would! I mean, he's not as hot as your boy toy, but he's cute enough, and he's got a great personality and a talent for invention. He's smart, too, and that's all I'm looking for." Looking around, she edged her chair a little closer to Lily's. "Are you okay with going back to the Underworld?" she asked in a whisper. "I wouldn't want to go back…it was so scary down there."

Carter shrugged. "It's not so bad, and besides, I'll be with Nico. What could go wrong?" Bad question, as it turned out.

 **A/N: By the way, I know you probably think batle should be brewing, but, Nah, Cant you're two typical demigods have a Starbucks break? R &R!**


	14. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

A few hours later, the girls wandered back to the park, searching for the area protected by the Mist where their tent was. Because of the Mist, it was always a little difficult to spot the exact area – it would be moving in and out of focus constantly until you were inside it. But when they got there, they found the rest of their group standing around with their bags shouldered, and the tent packed up.

"What's going on?" Jessie asked, moving to intertwine her fingers with Leo's.

"We're splitting up now," he answered her, squeezing her hand lightly. "You, me, and Thalia are checking out Mount Othrys to see if there's any activity there. The others are going to go back to the Underworld, I guess."

"Let's go," Thalia ordered, raising her arm and allowing a hunting falcon to settle on her wrist. "We've got a plane to catch. I have tickets – you can thank the privileges Artemis gives her Hunters for them."

After quick hugs and goodbyes, the three of them caught a taxi to the airport and soon vanished in the city traffic.

"They'll be okay," Annabeth whispered, watching the taxi disappear. "Where are we going?"

Nico rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I want us to split up for a little while too," he said. "We need to get the water spirits ready to defend camp if they're attacked, and I think Percy should definitely go…maybe even Carter. I'll be heading to a few alleys where monsters tend to pop up – I want to see if I can gauge their numbers or even which types are the most common, so we know which to be prepared to fight. This can't be like the Titan War, so I think we're more in danger from being overwhelmed by their numbers rather than how dangerous they are individually."

"I'm going with Percy," Annabeth said instantly. "Every time we're not together, Seaweed Brain here manages to get into trouble."

"No I don't!" Percy protested. "I just have really bad luck most of the time."

"All of the time," Annabeth giggled. "Remember when you got blown up at Mount St. Helens, or when you were a really cute guinea pig?" Annabeth mimicked the squealing her boyfriend once did.

Percy laid his forehead on his girlfriend's. "Yes, but being your boyfriend makes me feel like the luckiest guy in the world."

She smiled against him, and moments later they were kissing each other lovingly, oblivious of the fact that Carter and Nico were standing right next to them, their eyebrows raised.

"Let's go,"Carter said, tugging on Nico's wrist. There was something wrong about watching her brother kissing – no, passionately making out with – his girlfriend.

Nico let her pull him a bit away, and then smiled predatorily down at her. "You know, I think there's something we still haven't done yet," he breathed into her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"Nico…" she gasped out as his lips began trailing down from her ear to the joint between her shoulder and neck. Her eyes were closed and she was going weak at the knees, when she heard someone clearing their throat behind them. Nico sighed against her shoulder and raised his head.

"What, Seaweed Brain?" he snapped, and Carter practically jumped away from him, blushing furiously.

"Hands off my sister," Percy growled, dragging Carter towards him and keeping his other arm firmly around Annabeth. "Annabeth and I are going to get moving, all right? Just…you two take it easy, okay?" He hugged his sister tightly and then clapped Nico on the back while the girls said goodbye. "Take care of her, alright, buddy? And stay safe." He glanced back, making sure they weren't touching lip-to-lip.

"Get going already, Seaweed Brain," Nico chuckled, shoving Percy towards Annabeth. "You guys have money?"

"I'm loaded," Annabeth laughed, waving a bursting wallet in the air. "Bye, guys!" The two of them jogged away, holding hands.

Nico watched Carter waving and smiling at the receding couple, feeling his heart swell with something he couldn't quite define. Her earrings were swaying in the breeze, and he noticed that they were like little balls with spikes sticking out of them. They were red and white in color, with glitter on them, fascinating him.

While waving at her brother and Annabeth, she felt a hand brush the back of her cheek, and turned her head slightly to see Nico touching her earring lightly, flicking it gently and bouncing it on his finger. His fingers, barely touching her neck and the back of her jaw, sent tingles and heat through her body. She could feel her cheeks burning, and turned her face away, trying to calm down.

"Come here," he said quietly, gathering her into his arms. "Listen to me," he continued. "We're going to be going to a couple areas that aren't safe at all – not for mortals and not for demigods. And especially because you're a girl, I want you to be careful."

"I can take care of myself," she said, pushing away from his chest but finding herself trapped by his arms. "I'm not a baby!" Carter tried and failed to quell the indignation rising inside her – why did everyone think she was helpless?

"I know you can," he said soothingly, "But I'll feel better if you stay close to me, okay? Just…let me take control for now. I know these places better than you do."

She pushed her face into his shirt, letting him rub circles on her back. "Okay," she sighed, and squealed suddenly as his fingers pushed into a sensitive spot on her back.

"What?" Nico didn't get it, and for that she was grateful.

"Let's go," she said, glancing around. Feeling her back, making sure nothing came undone

"Hold tight," he instructed, and smiled when she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, her slender fingers digging into his shoulders slightly. Nico concentrated for a moment and then shadow-traveled them both away.

Carter raised her head from his chest and shrank even closer to him, making him tighten his embrace. The alley they were standing in was dark and nearly empty, except for a few figures further down. A dense smoke filled the area, smelling horrible, and the alley exuded a sense of fear and pain.

"You okay?" he asked. "I can take you to Percy if you'd prefer."

"I'm fine," she said, steeling her nerves and pulling away, regretting it the moment his warmth left her. "Just hold my hand." She wrapped her fingers around his hand, and he tightened his grip so much it nearly pained her, but gave her a feeling of security at the same time. Carter smiled to herself – no matter what the situation was, his touch never failed to make sparks jump along her skin and through her bloodstream. Her heartbeat was racing just from his proximity, and she was ready to lose herself in the exciting sensations when he dragged her backwards into the wall.

A man stepped out of the darkness, leering at her. "Hello, princess," he sneered, apparently not noticing Nico. Carter gasped suddenly – the reason he hadn't noticed Nico was because the boy wasn't there. She was alone, and it was terrifying. She backed up into the wall, away from the hands reaching for her. Those crazed eyes bore into her, eyeing her shamelessly, and she had just opened her mouth to scream when the man collapsed, his eyes rolling up into his head.

Nico was standing behind the man, his fist raised and his eyes blazing. "Are you okay?" he asked, pulling her close.

"Where were you?" she nearly shrieked, her voice muffled slightly by his shirt.

"I didn't want to put you in danger by putting you between us," he said. "So I shadow-traveled out so I was behind him and got him from behind." He eyed the man on the ground with disgust. "I didn't want you to come because the places I can frequent safely aren't safe for a girl like you – you're incredibly beautiful, you know, and irresistible." He stroked her cheek and kissed it, letting her blush fade slightly before speaking again. "Come on, let's get this over with."

Taking her hand, he led her down the alley. He glared at anyone who even glanced twice at her, and kept her close behind him. After a few sharp twists and turns, he crept slowly down along the side of a brick wall, crouched in a defensive position. They turned the corner, and she gasped.

An entire group of Cyclopes was climbing out of a manhole in the ground, lumbering around the alley together. They were wielding clubs and maces, cruel weapons that made her shudder.

"There's so many," she breathed, peeping out at them from behind Nico's shoulder.

"Damn it," he grumbled. "No one is used to fighting Cyclopes, and they're really strong. This just goddamn sucks." She whacked the back of his head, and he mumbled an apology for his language.

"Shall we leave?" She glanced around anxiously, not liking their situation. "This place gives me the creeps."

Nico backed up until he was close to her and shadow-traveled them both away. The rush of darkness and wind made her close her eyes, and when she opened them, she found herself looking out over a beautiful expanse of water.

"Where are we? This is beautiful," she breathed, watching the waves rolling in. The air smelled like the sea – salty but refreshing, and beautiful flowers grew on the mountain behind her.

"Coast of Amalfi," Nico answered, his hand resting on her elbow in a sweetly possessive gesture. "I have a safe house on the mountain behind you, and this place is extremely beautiful. I thought you'd like to see it."

"I've always wanted to see the Italian coast," she said, looking at him with sparkling eyes. She hugged him tightly, and tiptoed up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you." Turning to look at the sea again, she smiled and tilted back her head, closing her eyes and letting the breeze play through her hair.

Nico looked around. The sky was beginning to darken with clouds that hadn't been there a moment before. "Zeus really needs to calm down," he muttered angrily. "Carter, we need to get inside. Knowing Zeus, he's going to try spiking us with lightning any minute now."

"What?" She blinked at him in confusion.

"Storm clouds. Bad. Go in now." He grinned when she rolled her eyes and took her hand once again, leading her up a small footpath on the mountain. Placing his hand on an inconspicuous rock, he made it roll to one side, revealing a dark passage going into the mountain.

"Nico…" Carter stepped back, her heart pounding. She was deathly afraid of the dark, and she had mild claustrophobia – somehow she had made it through Orpheus' passage without panicking, but now she was terrified.

"What? We need to hurry, babe, please. This storm doesn't look pleasant."

She shuddered, the feeling of Her boyfriend calling her "babe" made Carter Incredibly uncomfortable.

"My father's Poseidon!" she shrieked, and he stared at her uncomprehendingly. "The sea – it doesn't like being confined! I'm claustrophobic and I'm scared of the dark," she mumbled, fixing her gaze on the ground.

Nico swore colorfully as the first drops of rain began to fall. Shocked at his sudden anger and his coarse language, Carter tore her hand from his grasp.

"What are you doing?" he yelled.

"Stay away from me," she shrieked, tears sliding down her cheeks. She wasn't quite sure why she'd reacted so badly – it was something to do with how he seemed unable to handle her fears and wanted her to simply obey his every command. Dodging as he tried to grab her, she flew down the pathway and ran down the street, searching for somewhere to hide.

Thunder rumbled in the sky, and the rain fell with enough intensity to paint her as they landed on her skin. Her thin shirt was soaked through, and her hair was plastered to her face. Slipping on the wet pavement, she fell, scraping her knee. Blood slid down her leg, and she collapsed after a single attempt to stand, nearly sobbing with the pain of both her wound and the rain. Zeus must really be angry, she thought bitterly, trying desperately to push herself upwards.

Suddenly remembering Nico, she searched frantically for him through the rain with her eyes, hoping he was there. He was the only way she would be able to get out of the rain now – without him, she doubted she could even stand. But no one approached her, and she began to cry in earnest, terrified and in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong, sweetheart?" a voice said. A teenager with tattoos and a diamond earring walked up to her, apparently enjoying the rain. "Come here, I'll help you." He leered at her, and grasped her upper arm firmly, dragging her up from the ground.

"Let go of me!" she shouted, hitting him in the face with all her strength and twisting away, breaking his grip on her. Remembering what Jessie had told her about these situations, she kneed him in his weakest spot and tried to run, but barely made it a few steps away before her knee gave out underneath her and she hit the pavement again. Her sword, which she had slipped into her boot, bumped into her leg, but the Celestial bronze was useless against mortals – and she was positive this teenager was a mortal. She was helpless, and she hated it.

"Bad idea, cupcake," he snarled, pulling a knife from underneath his shirt. Lily felt her heart pounding – she screamed, but he covered her mouth instantly, muffling his desperate cries. Tears leaked from her eyes, but he ignored them, eyeing her lustfully and placing the blade against her slender neck.

Carter froze suddenly – there was someone emerging quickly from the rain behind the boy holding her. That strong but slender physique was incredibly familiar, Nico! Her eyes widened, and moments later the teenager attacking her was collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

 **A/N: What did you think? Did you like it? BIG cliffhanger. Please, as I say many other times, R &R!**

 **as I said before, how would you feel about a sequel, it's coming to the point, you need to answer!**


	15. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Without waiting for an answer, Nico shadow-traveled them both away and deposited her on a couch when they arrived. He stormed away, and Carter observed the new setting. She was on a soft, plushy red couch in a room which appeared to be made of a black, smooth stone – probably obsidian, she decided. Various weapons hung from hooks on one wall, and a large cabinet stood against another. An intricately decorated fireplace warmed the room, and a picture of Hades and Nico stood on the mantelpiece, next to one of Nico with his sister and Hades with a beautiful woman who so resembled Nico and Bianca that she must have been their mother. There was more furniture in the room – a couple of chairs, a rug, and so on. She shifted, raising her leg, and gasped in pain as the newly formed scab on her knee broke, releasing waves of agony. Something warm trickled down her leg, and she bit her lip, knowing it was blood.

"Drink this," Nico ordered, placing his hand on her back and tilting her chin up. He placed a small cup against her lips and waited until she finished the draught. "Better? You look ready to pass out."

"Yeah. What was it?" She really did feel better – the pain had subsided and her head cleared.

"Nectar," he replied, going over to the cabinet and looking through it. "Official drink of the gods. Don't have too much of it, though. It'll burn you up if you overdose." He pulled out some bandages and a small tube and came back over.

"Lean back," he said, and sighed when her eyes widened. "Just relax – this is going to hurt a bit, and I don't need you to tense up more than you have to."

Even though he was upset with her for running away from him and yelling as if he was mistreating her, the sight of her in pain was still enough to tear his heart into pieces. Nico sighed inwardly – he was getting in deeper than he should, but he couldn't help it. She was addicting for him, and he was beginning to realize that his feelings for her had greater depth than he'd first thought.

Closing her large eyes, Carter leaned back until her spine was resting against a pillow he had propped up against the arm of the couch. "I'm sorry I ran off like that," she said quietly. "I just…lost it, you know? I really am sorry."

Nico observed her as she kept her eyes closed – the small but cute nose, long lashes on beautiful eyes, pink lips that he desperately wanted to kiss, and smooth skin all drove him crazy. "It's okay," he mumbled, observing her purple Under Armor T-Shirt "But don't do it again. If I'm being controlling, it's because I know how to deal with the situation much better than you do. If you can't trust me, then I just don't know how to make this work. I really am trying to keep you safe and do what's best for you, but you seem to believe me incapable of that."

"No, I don't!" She opened her eyes, looking at him. Her heart broke a little at the pain in his eyes, which he was doing his best to hide. "I really care about you," she said, choking a little on tears of both physical and emotional pain, "But I find it hard to trust people, especially boyfriends, because a lot of my friends had some really difficult relationships. I want us to work – I want there to be an us. And I want to trust you. It's just hard for me – but I am trying!"

Searching her eyes, Nico decided she was telling him the truth. "Well, as long as you try, and I do too, we'll be okay," he whispered, and kissed her soft cheek gently. With his hand, he smoothed away her tears from her cheeks and kissed the bridge of her nose. "Now lean back again and let me deal with your knee. Hold it still, okay?"

He spread some of the paste in the tube on the bandage and wrapped it around her knee after rolling up her jeans so the wound was exposed. He did it quickly, knowing from experience that dragging it out would make the pain worse. "All done," he said, inwardly proud of her for not letting a single whimper of pain to escape her lips. "Want me to show you around?"

"Yes," she said instantly, hooking her arms around his neck and standing up shakily. "I want to see your room first."

He smirked at her, and she hit his arm lightly. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"Whatever you say, Princess," he replied, guiding her into the hallway. She blushed prettily, and suddenly he felt her lips on his cheek. "Yeah?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"Nothing," she murmured, looking away. "Nico?"

"Yeah, Princess?"

"What's that?"

He turned, and saw a shimmering rainbow beginning to form at the end of the hallway. "Damn," he whispered. "Who is it?"

Moments later, Percy's face appear in the shimmering rainbow, and he sighed in relief, pulling Carter down the hall so quickly that she yelped. "Sorry," he said, lifting her bridal style and moving towards the image. She wound her arms around his neck, loving the way his biceps flexed when he held her, rubbing her cheek innocently against the slight stubble on his face. Carter smiled at the blush that rose through his cheeks, and wished suddenly that Percy wasn't watching.

"Hey, Percy," Nico said, trying to ignore the way the girl was making his heart race in his chest. He wished she'd stop moving against his body – she was driving him insane.

"Nico," Percy acknowledged. "Carter – what happened to you?"

"Long story," she said. "But I'll be okay. What's up?"

"Just wanted to see how you guys are." Percy's eyes wandered, and he raised his eyebrows. "You guys are in Italy?"

"It's so beautiful here," Carter gushed. "Have you seen the sea? It's gorgeous. Even the rain smells…" she trailed off, her eyes clouded.

Nico wrapped his arms around her protectively, kissing her hair. "I thought she'd like to see it," he told Percy.

"I'd love to go back there!" Percy yelled, knowing better than to probe about Carter's current condition. He'd give Nico hell for it later, though. "But no, instead me and Annabeth get to be sitting around in New York bored out of our minds."

Nico studied the Pink shimmering lip-gloss that enclosed around Percy's Lips

"I doubt you two are bored out of your minds," Nico snickered.

Right on cue, Annabeth poked her head into the viewing window. "Hey guys! We have to go, sorry, it's starting to rain out here. Bye, see you!" The line fizzled out.

Carter unwound her arms from Nico's chest and sank to the floor, her head resting on her knees. Worried, he sat next to her and pulled her close.

"You want to talk about it?" he asked quietly.

There was a long pause, in which she traced a tear on the knee of his jeans with a finger, sending tingles through his body.

"I was so scared," she whispered finally. "I just – first I was mad at you, and then I realized that you were my only chance of actually getting out of the situation, and when you didn't come I panicked, and I thought he was going to – going to –" She sniffled and then began to cry against his shoulder, hating her weakness but unable to help herself.

"I did run after you," he said, "But you managed to lose me. I couldn't find you until I heard your scream, and then I came as quickly as I could. I'm so sorry." He rubbed her back and stroked her hair, trying to calm her down.

"You should get some sleep," he advised, as her whimpers died away. "Come on." Pulling her up, he guided her into a room. "I'll see you later," he said, and stepped away, seeing her eyes closing involuntarily.

Going back into his room, he found another Iris-message waiting for him, this one containing a very angry Percy.

"Spit it out, Nico," Percy growled. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing, Percy," Nico said, sitting on his bed and slipping out of his shirt.

"Nico, I mean it!" The son of Poseidon was getting progressively angrier and angrier. "She looked so scared and broken – and could she barely walk? What was going on? If you hurt her, I swear to Poseidon that I will –"

"Shut up, Percy!" Nico was on his feet. "I didn't do anything – except rescuing her from a rapist! And if she hadn't lost her temper and run off on me in the first place, she wouldn't have gotten hurt! I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking I'm the one to blame."

"Why did she run? Did you say something?"

"Though, you can thank me later."

Nico turned to glare at the Iris-message, and Percy's bravado wilted somewhat. "I told her to get inside because a huge Zeus-induced storm was headed our way." He saw Percy opening his mouth again, and lost his temper. "I'll see you later, Percy." Slashing a hand through the rainbow, he caused it to dissolve, and fell back on the bed, closing his eyes.

A few hours later, he woke up. There was a light green haze around the ceiling of his bedroom. "Coming," he grumbled, dragging a different shirt over his head and standing up. "I'll be there in ten!" The haze vanished.

Lily was sitting in the living room, flipping through a copy of the _Odyssey_. "Hi," she greeted him, standing lightly.

"How's your leg?"

"Much better."

"We need to leave – my dad's back. At least for a while. And he wants to talk."

She backed away slightly. "Your dad…Nico, are you sure? He probably doesn't want to see me."

"I'm positive. He won't hurt you – I swear it on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled in the distance, and she searched his eyes, looking for and finding the care and honesty she needed.

"Okay," she said, closing her eyes and holding his arm. He shadow-traveled them away, and she nearly stumbled when they arrived.

"Careful." Nico steadied her by hooking an arm around her waist, and held her close as he looked up. "Hello, Father."

Hades stood up from his throne, his dark robes billowing around him. His pale but dangerously handsome face smiled a little as he moved closer. "Hello, Nico. I'm glad you came." His dark eyes fixed themselves upon Carter, and a nearly invisible smirk played over his mouth as she shrank into his son's chest. He inclined his head towards her, and looked over his shoulder.

Heels tapped against the obsidian floor, and moments later a beautiful goddess with flowing golden hair and bright blue eyes entered. "Ah,Carter! It's nice to finally meet you – Olympus is quite a stir because of you and that boy." She completely ignored Nico, sweeping the girl into an embrace. "Since my husband wants some time alone with him, how about I show you around a little? Come on."

Carter hurried after the goddess, casting a quick glance at Nico before turning the corner.

"Let me show you my room first," Persephone decided. "I want to talk to you too. Here we go." She placed her hand against an ornate marble door, the ruby ring on the ring finger of her left hand sparkling as she did so. The door slid aside, and the two entered.

The room was filled with flowers everywhere – and most of the furniture was either pink or white. It was very plushy and comfortable, and a magnificent four-poster bed with drapes around it stood in the center of the room.

"Sit here," Persephone said, motioning to a pink pouf on the floor. She seated herself on another pouf, much to the surprise and amusement of Lily, who had never imagined a goddess on such furniture, and began the conversation. "So, are you scared of being here? You can be honest – I was a newcomer here once too, you know."

Carter breathed, remembering how the goddess once arrived. "I was, just because I didn't really know what to expect and Hades…has a bit of a reputation."

Persephone laughed, her eyes smiling with her. "He's not that bad, unless he's very angry. And I did what I could to brighten this place up – and I must say it's improved quite a bit."

Lily agreed, taking in the colorful draperies and jeweled decorations on the walls. "It's very colorful," she said, trying to figure the goddess out.

"So tell me, Carter how do you feel about his son? I know he's very good looking, and powerful, but do you really love him?"

Instantly wary, Carter moistened her lips briefly before replying. "He's a sweet guy," she said evasively. "I like him."

"You need to be sure," Persephone warned. "My husband is against your relationship – he will not hurt you, but he doesn't approve. Be decided on what you desire and need from your relationship with Nico before Hades attempts to break you two apart."

Carter squared her jaw. "He has no right to interfere," she snapped, as her beautiful smile faded, hiding her white teeth.

"Your father already did," Persephone returned. "He tried to get Nico to stay away from you, but Nico knew he wanted to be with you. Do you feel the same way about him? Because if not, you two have no chance. Hades is an expert at finding weaknesses and exploiting them, and rest assured he will find yours."

A sudden memory came into focus, one which when she was young, and her father looked sorrowful, almost sorry.

"Why are you telling me? And can't you get him to back off?"

"I'm trying to, but he's stubborn. And I think it's better if you're prepared for anything he attempts – that way, you'll be less susceptible. Aphrodite supports you two, and she's an excellent friend of mine. So I thought I'd let you know. Just tell Nico, will you? He'll take care of you – even if he makes an excellent dandelion."

Persephone smiled, and Lily burst into giggles at the thought of Nico being turned into a dandelion. Soon she and the goddess were laughing and sharing stories like old friends, unaware of the serious conversation taking place in the throne room of the Underworld.

 **A/N: And an update! Please please review for me, darlings, I really do appreciate it. If I don't reply to your review, it's because I'm busy, but I DO READ THEM AND I DO APPRECIATE IT! Please voice your feedback/comments, and see you next chapter! Thanks to everyone who subscribed or favorited! Sequel? Yay or Nay?**


	16. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

"Are you sure, Nico?" Hades stormed around the room, ignoring the way his son rolled his eyes when he thought his father wasn't looking.

"Yes, Father, I'm sure," Nico repeated, for what seemed the thousandth time.

"Apart from all the problems the two of you are going to cause yourselves, you don't care that you may well cause another war between the gods?"

Nico scoffed, unimpressed. "Father, the gods may make bad decisions on practically everything, but they know better than to fight over one couple."

"No, they don't!" Hades returned angrily. "They're already taking sides – it's Zeus versus Poseidon and me, and he's trying to force the others to choose. He wants the two of you either broken up or killed, and you may be too pigheaded to accept it, but it's true. The both of you may ,well, end up starting World War Three. You had better watch your girlfriend closely, or she may end up dead."

The boy paled. "He wouldn't."

"Go now, Nico. Get her back to camp – I will see what I can do to stop more monsters from leaving. However, you will have to face the threat to the camp and yourselves on your own – and Zeus will not make the return trip easy for you. I can't let you shadow-travel for at least a couple days, because I need the darkness to stay as stable as possible while I try to shut the monsters down in Tartarus."

"So how do we get back?"

"Figure it out," Hades said curtly. "And get that girl of yours to help." He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving no doubt in his son's mind that Hades was displeased.

Nico rubbed his head with his hand, trying to quell the overly protective feelings he was having for Carter. The previous night, he'd spent his whole time dreaming about her, and he was pretty sure that he couldn't deny it any longer. He was in love with that beautiful, innocent girl who found excitement in every little thing, and who found the beauty in him even when he had lost the ability to see it in himself. And the idea of someone trying to hurt her…It drove him crazy, but she was independent enough not to want him breathing down her neck the whole time.

"You," Persephone said from behind him, causing him to turn. "She's waiting for you in my gardens. Hades told me you two need to leave."

Nico nodded his thanks and walked out the door, stepping out into the gardens. He allowed himself a moment to appreciate the beautiful flowers and fruits, remembering the times he'd tasted the pomegranates and been assaulted by the delicious flavors they contained. Being a son of Hades, he was already bound to the Underworld, and therefore was immune to any negative side effects of eating the fruit. Seeing a head of dark wavy hair a bit in front of him, he made his way through the garden to find Carter, and froze in place when he saw her.

Carter was standing with her back to him, examining a small pond of lilies made of several different jewels. She was wearing short-shorts with a White glimmering shirt - which was much too short. He made a slight sound and she turned, captivating him again. And her loose hair still managed to give him a wonderful view of her swan-like neck. Her eyes met his, and he felt his heartbeat quicken as she glanced down at herself, blushing.

Eyeing Nico nervously, Carter felt the blood creep up her neck and cheeks at the way he was staring at her. His eyes were slightly widened, and she remembered the surprised and entranced look he'd had on his face as her blush worsened. A pair of shoes besides her own – these a pair of black converse with a bit of Red on them – entered her field of vision, and she looked up to see Nico standing right in front of her, his dark eyes smoldering.

Before she knew what was happening, he was pulling her towards him, leaning closer. She was deliciously aware of his hand on her hip – she could feel his strong fingers and hand through her thin shirt. His other hand was winding itself into her hair, and his face was so close that her heart nearly had never kissed a boy before, but somehow her instincts took over, and her eyes fluttered shut, her trembling eyelashes driving Nico over the edge, although she was unaware of it.

His lips crashed onto hers with an intensity that she had come to associate innately with him, yet he was still gentle with her. Carter allowed him to take control but continued to move her lips with his, enjoying their passionate dance. She wound her arms around his neck, and his hand slipped onto her midriff, which was exposed as her shirt rode up. Nearly moaning as he caressed her side, she felt him increasing the passion in their already heated kiss, and began to feel lightheaded as fireworks exploded behind her closed lids. He was bending her backwards, supporting her body with one hand and stroking her hair with the other, and nothing but the overwhelming need for air could have made her break the kiss.

Her chest heaved as she gulped oxygen in, still staying incredibly close to Nico. His hand still rested on her hip, now slightly below the hem of her shirt so that he was still touching her skin. Carter laid her head on his shoulder, loving the way his muscles rippled beneath his shirt at the slightest movement.

For a few moments they stood in silence, wrapped in each other's arms, and then Nico spoke, his mouth close to her ear. "You look more beautiful than Aphrodite," he whispered, kissing her neck.

"Thank you, and shouldn't we….…mmmm." She moaned softly as he began sucking at the juncture between her neck and shoulder, a spot that was apparently far more sensitive than she'd realized. When he finally raised his head, he smiled at her dazed look and Ocean eyes.

"We should leave," he murmured, kissing her nose and then pecking her lips softly. He leaned back when she tried to kiss him again, chuckling. "That's punishment for not opening your mouth when we kissed earlier," he whispered, taking her hand and pulling her through the garden behind him.

They walked together for nearly half an hour, barely speaking. Carter Had never seen the Underworld properly before, and she was taking in the "scenery" with wide eyes. Fires burned in the Fields of Punishment, from which the screams of the damned could be heard. She'd grabbed Nico's hand tightly, burrowing gratefully into his side when he'd wrapped his arm around her.

Nico had his sword drawn, eyeing the shadows suspiciously and keeping his girlfriend as close to him as she could. Carter had been annoyed by his protective behavior for the first five minutes after they'd left Persephone's garden, and then she'd given in and decided to enjoy the feeling of his arm around her waist. She traced the cords in his arms as they walked, fascinated by the way his veins popped naturally from his skin. It made him seem more masculine and physically stronger, something she loved.

As they moved through the Underworld, she found herself reflecting on the heart-stopping kiss they'd shared earlier. His mere gaze could send her heartbeat through the roof, and now the memory of his lips on hers would haunt her dreams. She found herself wishing for a repeat performance and blushed, thankful that he hadn't noticed. Making a mental note to thank Persephone for the outfit, she glanced back one last time at the now tiny outline of Hades' palace, pitying Persephone somewhat for having to live in such a dark world.

Finally they passed the Judgment Pavilion, and Carter stopped moving at the sight of thousands of ghosts waiting in lines.

"Come on," Nico said quietly, tugging her along. "This is normal – don't worry. You're with me; you'll be fine."

A few minutes later, she squeaked in surprise as Cerberus loomed up out of the darkness, growling and showing his teeth. Her sword felt pathetically tiny next to the beast's long fangs.

"Back up," Nico ordered, moving past the dog. "Hey, Cerb!" He pulled a ball out of his pocket and threw it, waiting for the dog to bring it back before repeating the action. "He likes to play," Nico explained. "He gets lonely. Percy told me about him and I try to give him some company once in a while. You wanna try?"

Carter took the ball from him and threw it pathetically, realizing as she did so that the three-headed dog wasn't nearly as terrifying as he appeared. When her arm got tired from throwing the ball so hard, she patted his immense snout before Nico led her away, promising the dog that he would return soon.

"That's really sweet of you," Carter told him as they stood on the shore of the River Styx. Nico smiled at her, hugging her briefly before moving to the edge of the water.

"Stand back," he advised. He began to chant in Ancient Greek, and moments later, a boat rose up out of the water, sending a spray up into the air. Nico hissed in pain as the droplets burned his skin, but continued to chant until the boat neared the shore.

"Are you okay?" Carter grasped his arm in her hands and stroked the burned skin lightly, trying to soothe the irritated redness.

"I'm used to burns," he said, a half-smile tugging at his lips. "I've burned the fingerprints off my index finger while playing bass." He showed her his finger, which really did have little burns on it. Moments later, Nico sucked in his breath as Carter carefully kissed the burns on his finger and then smiled at him angelically.

"Better?" she asked.

"Get in the boat," he answered roughly. She looked hurt, and he picked her up suddenly as she was making her way past him. "Don't do that again for a while, or we may end up never leaving here." He smirked as she blushed, and carried her into the boat.

It moved away from the shore and began to carry them downstream. "I can control the waters of the Styx somewhat," Nico said, "So I'm going to take us to the entrance to the Underworld. We'll be in LA then, and we'll have to figure out how to get back to camp as quickly as possible."

"We could catch a plane from LAX," she suggested, sitting on the floor of the boat with her legs folded demurely to one side.

"No good," he said, shaking his head. "Zeus will fry us if we even try to catch a ride from his domain. My dad won't let me shadow-travel for a while – he wants the darkness to stay stable until he traps the monsters in Tartarus."

"We could try hippocampi or something," Carter mumbled, "But I'd feel bad summoning them into such polluted water." Her eyes brightened suddenly. "I have an idea. All we'll need to do is get a cab."

"What are we going to do?"

"You'll see," she said, smiling impishly. She tossed her hair to the side, and shrieked suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Nico was instantly at her side.

Carter pointed indignantly at her shoulder, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. "You gave me a hickey!"

Leaning close enough to make her feel a little shy, Nico smirked. There was a small but definite hickey on her shoulder. "Want me to make it darker?"

She squealed and pounded his chest lightly with her palm as he dropped his lips onto the base of her neck again. "Stop it!"

Nico stood, chuckling, and moved to the stern of the boat. "We'll be there in a moment," he announced. "Get ready to get off."

"Fine," she muttered. "And tell me how I'm going to explain this to Percy," she grumbled, rubbing the hickey lightly, partly to try to erase the feel of his lips on her skin.

"Wear your hair down for a while," he suggested, helping her out of the boat and leading the way into an antechamber. "Welcome to LA."

 **A/N: And there is Chapter 18. WOW we've nearly reached 20 chapters! Please R &R! All your reviews make me feel more motivated to write – I worked hard to crank this chapter out as soon as I could because so many of you were asking for an update. And tell me what you think of their relationship's progress – is it too sudden? Or is it still flowing? LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! IMAGINARY DOUGHNUTS ALL AROUND AND SEE YOU NEXT CHAPTER! Sequel? (Just Sneaking that question in here!)**


	17. Chapter 19

**A/N: So, at the time when I'm writing this, my story currently has 89 reviews! I'm SO EXCITED about that! I really want to thank everyone who reviewed and those who have constantly encouraged and supported me. All of you mean the world to me.**

Chapter 18

Carter pulled a drachma from the pocket of her Nike sweatshirt, glad that Persephone had decided to gift her some "emergency supplies" as well. Tossing it into the street, she shouted, "Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" ( **A/N:Translates To "Stop, Chariot of Damnation!" in Ancient Greek)**.

Out of the ground a smoky taxi arose, and they could make out three figures squished into the front.

"Get in!" A hag stuck her head out of the window, motioning to the back seat. She had one eye in her forehead, and her mouth was toothless.

Nico rolled his eyes and got in first, leaning forward on the seat as black chains wrapped themselves around his waist like seatbelts. "Hey, son of Hades of here," he announced. "If any of you three DARE to argue about who gets the eye and tooth, I will send you on a one-way trip to meet my father. Understood?"

The hags nodded mutely, and Carter glared at her boyfriend, not liking his manipulative attitude but remembering Percy's horrendous tale of his ride in the taxi and deciding to stay silent.

"Take us to Camp Half-Blood," Nico ordered, leaning back and taking Carter's. "And make it snappy. We're in a rush."

Minutes later, the cab swerved to a halt in front of Half-Blood Hill. The ride had still been dangerous – Tempest, who had the eye, still drove like a maniac – but the sisters had refrained from fighting, cowed by Nico's threat.

"Thank you," Carter Said as she slid out of the car, followed by Nico. The moment the taxi vanished, she rounded on him. "There was no need to be so rude to them! What were you even thinking? You could've just asked them not to fight."

"Like they would've listened," he muttered.

Carter Opened her mouth to argue, and gasped instead. "Nico – there's smoke coming from camp!"

They ran up the hill and down the other side of it to see Percy summoning water to douse the flames licking at the Big House. Will Solace was tending to Clarisse, who was sitting on the ground with her right arm bent at an odd angle, and his cabin mates were trying to heal several injuries that other campers, including Annabeth, Leo, and Jessie, were sporting.

"What happened?" Carter hugged Jessie and then Annabeth, while Nico moved towards Percy.

"There's a drakon in the woods," Annabeth said, her eyes darkening. "It came out last night and set the Big House on fire – Percy and I just got here and he's trying to put out the flames. Clarisse and some of us tried to hunt it down, but neither we nor it ended up seriously hurt." She dabbed at the blood trickling from a scrape on her cheek, wincing slightly.

Jessie twisted the hem of her sweatshirt in her hands, biting her lip. "Percy wanted to take Nico with him and go and take it down, so we were waiting for you two. How bad is the situation down there?" She lowered her voice, and Annabeth leaned in.

"Hades will take care of it," Carter whispered back. "He's trying to get things locked down now, but hordes have already escaped. Nico knows all the details – we'll get him to spill them later. Even I don't know them yet."

"I'm FINE, now let me up!" Clarisse shouted from behind them, shoving Will away.

"You will stay where you are," he bellowed back, raising a bottle of nectar in his hand as if threatening her with it.

"Clarisse, sit down already," Jessie groaned, running over to help her brother subdue the angry girl. "He needs a few more minutes to make sure everything is going to heal okay, so stay still. And if you even try to get up, I will curse you to speak in poetry. Will taught me how." She smirked, remembering the good memories when she'd done it to Leo the other day. She'd made sure it had worn off in a few hours, but boy had it been fun.

Grumbling some nasty swear words, Clarisse allowed Will to check the cast on her arm while Jessie moved over to wrap bandages around Leo's arm, which was bleeding. He smiled at her so sweetly that Carter felt a surge of happiness for her best friend.

"Excuse me?" Someone tapped Carter on her shoulder, and she turned around to see an extremely good-looking boy standing behind her. "Are you Carter?"

"Yeah," she replied, "Do I know you?"

He chuckled and held out a hand for her to shake. "Nah, but I'm Chase. Son of Hermes, at your service."

She laughed and shook his hand. "Did you need something?"

"Chiron wanted me to show you something that was delivered to our cabin with your name on it. It's a bit big, so you should come with me." He smiled at her and walked away, indicating that she should follow.

Carter walked next to him, glancing at Nico and noticing that he and Percy were having an intense discussion about something. She then turned her attention to the boy next to her, and admitted to herself that he was pretty darn gorgeous. He had sandy hair and brown eyes, dimples and a white smile, and a build both different and similar to Nico's. While Nico was somehow twiggy yet muscular, Chase was an obvious bodybuilder. She liked his looks, but he couldn't hold a candle to Nico, in her opinion.

"Here," he said, interrupting her thoughts and directing her attention to the back of the Hermes cabin.

A rather large box was waiting on the ground with her name printed on it. Kneeling down, she examined the copious amounts of tape used to secure the package and frowned.

"Do you have scissors?" She turned to Chase.

He shouted something through one of the open windows of the cabin, and caught the pair of scissors that came flying out the window. "Here you go."

She mumbled a thank-you and cut the packaging on the box, which began to shake slightly in her hands as the tape was loosened.

"What the hell," she muttered, ripping open the cardboard. A gale force of wind engulfed her suddenly, raising her into the air as if she were a rag doll.

"CARTER!" Chase shouted her name, watching in horror from the ground. The wind ripped her through the air and suddenly dashed her several times against the wall of the cabin. The girl was screaming something, which he suddenly recognized as obscenities cursing Zeus.

"What is going on?" Nico di Angelo, whose attention had been caught by the screams, ran up just in time to catch Carter as she fell after being thrown into the wall of the Hermes cabin again. "What did you do, Chase?"

"Is she okay?" Jessie ran up, her heart nearly stopping when she got a good look at her friend. The daughter of Poseidon had bleeding cuts all over her body, and her entire outfit was stained red. Her skin was bruised and she was unconscious.

"I'm taking her to Chiron," Nico muttered, staring at her before vanishing into the barely-there shadows.

"Okay, pretty boy," Jessie hissed, drawing a knife and pressing it to an unsuspecting Chase's neck, "What did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!" He tried to push her away and gulped as she pressed the blade closer.

"Jessie, back off," Annabeth sighed, pulling the angry girl away from the boy. "Percy ran back, but he said Chase probably had no hand in what happened. Let him go."

Snarling, Jessie backed away from an equally angry Chase.

"I'm telling you I wasn't involved!" he yelled. "She opened a box that came for her with her name on it, and this wind just sort of caught her up and banged her against the cabin like six or seven times."

Annabeth muttered something rude in Ancient Greek that involved Zeus eating his pants, yet involved many other terrible words. "Well, it's pretty obvious who our top suspect is," she said, "And that is not going to help things up on Olympus, which are apparently pretty tense already. Jessie, will you go and tell Nico and Percy what happened? See if they know anything. I want to check the box out a little first."

Jessie nodded and skedaddled towards Cabin Three, where she was pretty sure they would've gone. Sure enough, when she entered, Carter was already conscious and telling Chiron, Percy, and Nico what had happened.

"Ah, Jessie," Chiron said, getting up. "If you're here, I'll leave now – just check her over medically and see if you can improve on what I did for her." He left.

"Annabeth thinks Zeus did it," Jessie announced, sitting down next to Carter on the bed and frowning as she examined a large purpling bruise on the other girl's cheek. "And you really look like you've come back from the dead right now."

Carter laughed. "Yeah, Nico could probably have helped with that. And it could be a lot worse – I only broke two ribs instead of like four. τυχερός μου στην αρχαία!" (Translation, "Lucky me!")

Percy rolled his eyes. "And that is bad enough. So you are going to stay here until I tell you you can leave, okay? And the painkillers are with me – let me know if you need more than what we've already given you. Just don't overdose. I have to go see what Annabeth is doing – Jessie, will you stay with her? Nico, I think you should come with me. We need to finish discussing…things."

Nodding, Nico stood, kissing his girlfriend quickly on the cheek, not sure how Percy would react if he gave her a real kiss. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "Take care of yourself, okay?" Raising his voice slightly, he turned to Jessie. "If she even tries to get up, tie her down, okay?"

The boys left, and Jessie turned to her friend. "Okay, daughter of Apollo in charge here. Where are you hurt? I'll see if I can help a bit."

"Chiron put something on the bruise here," Carter gingerly touched her cheek, "But I think there's something wrong with my neck. I can't really move it properly, and I forgot to tell Chiron when I got up."

Jessie hopped up. "Lemme just see what Percy keeps in his medicine cabinet, okay?" She opened it, and her eyes widened. "I'm going to assume this is Annabeth telling him what to do, because he's got everything I would ever possibly need. This is cool." She loaded her arms with bandages, gauze, ointments and a bag of ambrosia squares and sat back down.

"Which side of your neck is bothering you?"

"The right side," Carter answered, reaching up and wincing as the cut on her shoulder throbbed.

"Stay still, you invalid," Jessie scolded jokingly, and moved her friend's hair aside to get a better look at the offending neck. "Wow."

"Is it bad?" Carter asked, worried.

"Oh yeah," Jessie giggled, "Now you have to tell me when, where, and how exactly you have a hickey on your neck. And besides that, I think it's probably just sore – there's no blood or wound. Just rotate it a little once every five minutes or so. And eat ambrosia." She shoved a piece of ambrosia at Carter Quinn and sat back. "So, what happened? A love bite already?" She giggled again.

"Shut up," Carter mumbled, blushing redder than Jessie's hair.

"Come on," Jessie groaned. "I'm your best friend, you are obligated to tell me! I bet there's some kind of law out there that says you have to tell me!"

"Tell you what?" Percy walked in, raising his eyebrows.

Carter wilted internally, tossing her head slightly in an effort to hide the love bite on her neck. Because the pain in her neck limited her movements, all the head toss really did was call Percy's attention to her neck – and then the small purple mark on it.

"σοβρά?! Is that…is that a hickey?" Percy moved closer, and Jessie closed her eyes, waiting for the storm to burst. "Did Nico give you that?"

"Percy, it's really none of your business," Carter sighed, hoping he would take the bait and leave. He didn't.

"Yes it is! He's messing around with my little sister! And why did you let him? What else did you two do?"

"We didn't do anything!" Carter was shocked at what Percy was implying. "Do you really think I would let him do anything I'm not comfortable with?"

"I don't know! But I don't want to find out later from someone else!" He was pretty angry, and Carter was beginning to worry about what he would do to Nico. "Jessie, make sure she stays here. I have to go have a word with Nico." And he stormed out, leaving the girls to give each other shocked looks.

 **A/N:Sorryaboutthewait,butschoolisgettingverybusy!PleaseR &R!Thanksforreading!AndIknowitwaskindofabunchoffluff,butI'llbegettingmorethingssoon!Promise:-) So,youguysaren'tmad,right?**


	18. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

Nico was glaring at the floor of his cabin. His father had even warned him to keep a closer eye on her, and he'd let her run off with Chase. And how did Chase not have the brains to realize something was wrong when the box was practically encapsulated in tape? He snorted to himself. That son of Hermes had fewer brains than a peanut.

He looked up as the door burst in, and raised an eyebrow when a furious Percy barged in.

"What were you and Carter doing in the Underworld together, Nico?" Percy grabbed the younger boy by the collar of his shirt and slammed Nico's skinny frame against the wall. "There's a goddamn _hickey_ on her neck, Nico, and I know it was you."

Nico took a moment to get his breath back, cursing the way Percy's build was more solid than his own. "Relax, man, we didn't do anything wrong –"

Percy punched the wall behind Nico's head, bruising his knuckles. "Yeah, you didn't. What else were you doing with her that she has a love bite? I trusted you with her, and you went and –"

"I didn't do anything!" Nico roared, pushing Percy off of him and stepping away from the wall, crouching into a slightly defensive position, ready to spar at a moment's notice. "All I did was kiss her! You can stop acting like I'm going to ruin her life every other minute, because I'm not. And I saw that mark on Annabeth's neck a couple months ago, but I'm pretty sure Malcolm didn't try to beat you up like a caveman."

Percy reddened a little and sighed. "Okay, I apologize," he grumbled. "But you can't blame me for worrying about her." He remembered the incident that gave Annabeth a love bite.

"I'd probably have done the same for Bianca," Nico muttered, scuffing his shoe against the floor. "So it's alright, I guess. But quit jumping down my throat, okay? I really don't like it, and if I lose my temper one of these days…"

"I get it," Percy said. "Shall we go pay Chase a visit?" He noticed how Nico's eyes narrowed slightly at the other boy's name, and laughed inwardly. This was going to be fun.

"Yeah, let's go."

Meanwhile, Carter had another unexpected visitor – Chase. He'd walked in and Jessie had left almost immediately after to go use the restroom, and probably visit Leo too (although she'd never admit it).

"Hi Chase," Carter said, leaning back against the pillows. The painkillers were beginning to wear off, and she was now painfully conscious of a throbbing in her side.

"How are you?" He sat down on the bed, looking at her with concern.

"Okay," she said. "Do you need something?"

"I just wanted to apologize," he sighed. "We should probably have looked into it more carefully, but since Dad delivered it we figured it was okay to give to you."

"It's fine," she smiled, wincing as pain shot through her side.

"I'll get Percy," he said, standing up as her mouth twisted with pain. She nodded, and he had barely reached the door when it opened.

"What are you doing here?" Nico snapped, shoving him aside and walking quickly towards Carter. "How –" He broke off as a horn sounded from outside.

Chase sprinted to the door and when he turned around, his eyes were filled with alarm. "Clarisse is blowing her horn," he said. "Something's happened. We should go." He practically ran from the cabin, eager to be as far away from the angry son of Hades as possible.

"I'll go," Percy said, noticing Nico's indecision. "You can stay with her."

Moments later the two of them were alone.

"How are you feeling?" Nico asked, sitting on the bed near her knees.

"Okay," she answered tiredly. "I think the painkillers are wearing off a little though."

"When it really starts to hurt, I'll give you another," he said, picking at a worn spot on his jeans. "What was Chase doing here?"

"He just came to apologize. He's a nice guy, you know? You shouldn't have gotten so angry with him for no reason."

"I wasn't angry."

"Yes, you were." She shifted slightly, easing the pressure on her side. "You looked ready to stab him with the first thing to come into your grip. Why do you think he ran out the door as fast as he did?"

"He's a coward," Nico said flatly, indicating that the subject was closed. "You should get some sleep." He pulled a packet from his pocket and placed it on the nightstand. "Here are the painkillers – take one if you think you need it. There's a water bottle on the floor near your hand if you want it. And if Chase comes back, I'm telling him to get lost."

"Why? He's a nice guy, he can stay, can't he?" She gave him her best pleading face, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. Her boyfriend was just as stubborn as she was.

"No, he can't," Nico said.

Carterwinced suddenly as pain stabbed through her side again. "Can I have the painkillers?"

Nico slipped one between her lips and supported her while she drank water with it, letting her sink onto the bed afterwards. "Get some sleep," he whispered. "I'll be right here."

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the feeling of his lips brushing hers softly.

Nico stroked her hair as she slept, straining his ears to hear the sounds coming from outside the cabin. He didn't have to wait long for news, as Percy entered minutes later, looking incredibly worried.

"They're a week away," Percy announced, collapsing onto the bunk opposite Carter's. "Clarisse said she was practicing archery off of pegasi when she saw them on the horizon. Apparently their force is greater than the previous one, and she wants to draw up a plan of action now."

Running a hand through his silky hair, Nico nodded. "We have to establish as many protective lines around the camp as we can," he said. "I think the magical shields that we Big Threes can produce are the best – ideally we'll do it in pairs, but not all of us can do it anyway. We'll work on that on our own and put them up in a couple days. For everything else, we'll have to talk to the rest too. There are Cyclopes in that force, and no one knows how to fight them, Percy. We aren't ready for this."

"Well, we're going to have to get on that," Percy groaned. "Damn, my hand is killing me. Nico, remind me never to punch a wall again, will you?"

"Maybe if you weren't trying to intimidate someone you wouldn't be able to beat up anyway, you wouldn't do that to yourself."

The other teenager rolled his eyes. "Great. I was just getting ready to indulge in some self-pity, and you go and say something that just might have been intelligent. Thanks, buddy."

"Anytime." Laughing quietly, Nico tried to stand up and found that he couldn't. Carter had fallen asleep with her hand clasped around his wrist, and he couldn't move away without moving her arm and quite possibly waking her up. He observed her scared expression, she looked like she was having a nightmare.

"Stuck, huh?" Percy snickered at him as he stretched out. "You know what, I think I would go and find Annabeth, except –"

"Except she found you first." Annabeth walked in, carefully closing the door behind her. She pulled Percy up from the bed, kissed him, and then noticed Nico. "Oh!" Blushing, she tried to step away from Percy and slapped him when he wrapped an arm around her waist, trapping her. When he didn't let go, she sagged against his chest. "Hi, Nico."

He nodded to her. "I'd give you two some privacy," he said, "But I'm kind of stuck here and I don't think you two should be alone without a chaperone of some sort." Later, he wished he'd had a camera to capture their expressions. Priceless, he thought, smirking.

"Shut up," Annabeth said, mortified.

Taking pity on her, Nico changed the subject as he sat back down. "Do you have any defense ideas for the camp yet?"

She sat forward, instantly engaged. "Well, Percy told me about those energy shields you want to put up, and I think that should be a great idea. We should basically do what we did last time – split the senior campers and the better fighters off into pairs or small groups and have them command sections of campers in the geographic and combative areas they're strongest in. I want to have better fortifications around our borders, and I want you, Leo, and Jake Mason to get going on figuring out the best way to do that." She caught the slight raise of Nico's eyebrows and frowned. "Your father is the god of the dead, Nico," she said. "If anyone can help us figure out how to win a battle, it's you."

"And you," Percy said, kissing her ear. "Children of Athena can be dangerous too. They have a rebellious side, too"

"Only if they don't like you," Carter yawned. "And hi, Annabeth."

"How are you?" Nico breathed into her ear, supporting her waist and back to help her sit up as he placed some pillows behind her.

Carter smiled and kissed his mouth quickly, ignoring her brother's expression. "Better. What's going on?"

"We're being attacked in about a week, according to Clarisse's estimate," Annabeth said.

"Again?"

Nico laughed at his girlfriend's reaction. "Yes, princess, again," he said, settling back so that he was sitting next to her, his left arm casually hooked around her waist. "Hey, Percy, you still in touch with Tyson?"

"Of course," Percy replied, resting his head on Annabeth's curly blonde hair. "He's my half brother – how could I not be?"

"Ask him to come here and bring some of his friends, will you? We need to practice fighting Cyclopes."

"Who's Tyson?" Carter asked curiously, looking up at Nico.

"Percy's half brother," he said. "He's also a Cyclops. And before you ask, they're the children of Poseidon and a nature spirit of some sort, and they're sometimes seen as…mistakes. Tyson's a little sensitive about it, but he's apparently very nice. "

"He's really very sweet," Annabeth interjected, "Just a little large. And he loves peanut butter. He cleans up much better than Percy, though, so you should have an easier time around here." She giggled as Percy scowled at her. "Remember that time I came in here to check your cabin and you had a pair of gym shorts or something on the floor?"

"Wow, life is just filled with surprises!" Carter said enthusiastically

"Shut up," Percy grumbled. "I'm not as messy as you are – notes all over your bed, a laptop running even when you're not there, and –"

"Stop being so loud, guys," Carter hissed. "You'll wake Nico."

"But he isn't – whoa." Percy raised his eyebrows. Nico's head was resting on Carter's shoulder, and his mouth was slightly open. He was fast asleep.

"He probably hasn't slept in a while," Annabeth whispered, "What with everything going on around here and all the stress he's under."

Percy scoffed. "What stress?"

"He has to handle the Underworld monster escaping problem, make sure his father's got that under control, worry about Carter being nearly killed, and then figure out how to fight off the next battalion of monsters. On top of that, I think he still feels a bit like an outcast here – it's obvious that people are afraid of him and that they never know how to react to him. That's a lot for one person to handle."

"He's strong," Carter whispered, tracing his cheek lightly with her fingertip. "He can handle it."

"Yeah, well, I hope so," Percy said. "We're going to need all the Big Three people we can find. Hey, is Thalia still around with her Hunters?"

"They're in Cabin Eight," Annabeth answered. "They got into a fight with the Ares and Apollo cabins yesterday and ended up getting beaten pretty badly – those two are the wrong cabins to pick fights with, accepting you Big Threes."

Carter giggled. "That must have been pretty funny."

"It was, until Thalia tried to zap Clarisse," Annabeth said. "Clarisse blocked it with her electric spear and cursed the entire Artemis cabin so that all their weapons have turned to rubber, and won't turn back unless she recants the curse or a week passes. They're hopping mad."

"I wouldn't hurt a fly! I'm just that nice!" Percy interjected

"Except that love bite on Annabeth might've been harsh" Carter giggled, while Annabeth covered her her left side of her neck with her dirty blonde hair.

Nico mumbled something incoherent in his sleep and shifted his head. Carter smiled and blushed, and Percy raised his eyebrows at her.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

"Oh, come on," Annabeth coaxed, grinning. "Why are you smiling."

"It's nothing!" Carter sighed. "Fine, his hair tickles, happy?"

Annabeth burst out giggling, and a few minutes later Carter joined in, unable to suppress her mirth. Percy stared at them both.

"What…" Nico stirred and lifted his head off Carter's shoulder, looking around blearily. "What's the joke?"

Percy shrugged at him as the girls began to giggle again. "No clue."

"I'm going back to my cabin," Nico mumbled. "See you guys." He stood up and then fell back onto the bed as Carter dragged him back down to kiss him. She dragged it out as long as she could with her brother watching, and then reluctantly released him, missing the tingles he sent through her body as soon as they lost contact.

"See you tomorrow," she said, and waved as he said his goodbyes and walked gracefully out the door. The moment he left, Annabeth began to laugh again.

"What?" Carter asked.

"His hair tickles!" Annabeth mimicked through her giggles. "That's hilarious,Carter."

"Well, it's true! It's all soft and silky and it just did, okay?"

"Can we stop discussing my best friend's hair now?" Percy moaned, looking uncomfortable.

The girls just continued to laugh, and after a while Percy stood up and walked out the door, muttering something about how he needed to ask Nico to refrain from falling asleep on his sister's shoulder in the future.

Well, Are You Proud Of me? I stayed Up all Night Writing This. Extra Reviews? And I know This Was earlier than expected, But, I won't be able to update for AT LEAST a month :(


	19. This Is Chapter 21, I Finally Updated :D

**Chapter 20**

 **The next day, Carter found the pain in her side to have reduced greatly, and all her other bruises had nearly healed as well. Thankful for ambrosia and nectar, she found she could stand and even walk without assistance – running, however, left her with a fuzzy head afterwards. She was becoming slightly frustrated, because she was wearing a sky blue of such a unique shade of blue that she had only one sweater that matched it, and that one sweater was missing.**

 **Hearing the door open, Carter called out, "Percy, have you seen my pink sweater? I can't find it anywhere and it's the only thing I have that matches this cap, so I really –"**

 **She turned around, froze, and then screamed loudly. There was a huge figure (definitely not Percy) standing in the doorway – a humanoid, but with only one eye.**

 **"What happened? Are you okay?" Nico melted out of the shadows and dashed over to her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. In a few moments he satisfied himself that she wasn't physically hurt, and raised his eyes to the doorway. "Tyson. Hey, man, how're you doing?"**

 **Carter's mouth formed a perfect 'o.'**

 **"Carter, I'd like you to meet Tyson," Nico said, shepherding her towards the Cyclops standing in the doorway while keeping his arms around her. "Tyson, this is Carter – she's Percy's little sister."**

 **Tyson shuffled his feet, looking nervously at the girl wrapped in Nico's arms. "Hi?"**

 **"Hi, Tyson," Carter said, recovering from her shock at seeing the giant form in the doorway and berating herself mentally for reacting so idiotically. "It's nice to meet you."**

 **Seconds later, Percy ambled in and found himself locked in a bone-crushing hug with his half brother. "Tyson! You came!"**

 **"Rainbow brought me!" Tyson smiled, looking excited. "He likes apples and mangoes!"**

 **"That's great, man," Percy chuckled. "He doesn't like me very much – I don't give him enough treats. Anyway, you want to come to the arena with me? We need to figure out how to train everyone in fighting Cyclopes."**

 **"And making things go BOOM!" Tyson bounced on the balls of his feet, his wide smile showing off his rarely-brushed teeth. "My friends will come tomorrow, Percy. They will help too."**

 **"See you around, you two," Percy called out as he dragged Tyson from the cabin, saying, "Let's go find Annabeth and some peanut butter, okay?"**

 **Nico laughed as they heard Tyson respond enthusiastically. "Did he really scare you that badly?"**

 **"Well, we knew there were going to be Cyclopes invading us soon, and he was right there and I was expecting Percy to be coming in and it was just…ya know." She played with the peeling of her finger nail polish (Which the Aphrodite Cabin teased her about)**

 **He burrowed his face into her neck, smiling against her skin. "You are such a damsel in distress." Bending over her, he kissed her collarbone, smirking a little when her breath hitched.**

 **"No, I am not," she hissed back. "I can take care of myself. And stop that!" Her cheeks colored as his lips fell back onto her collarbone, and he carefully slid them slightly lower so that he was kissing the skin right below and slightly under the bone. His soft hair tickled her neck and collarbone lightly as his mouth began to work its magic. Her head began to feel fuzzy as the tingles he sent through her body grew in magnitude until she felt that if he didn't take his mouth away, she was going to explode with the multitude of unidentifiable feelings she was experiencing.**

 **"Nico…please…" she gasped out, and nearly moaned with relief when he unwound himself so that he was no longer bent over her left shoulder.**

 **"I don't care if you are or aren't," Nico breathed into her ear, "You are my damsel in distress, and that's all that really matters."**

 **"Not a damsel in distress," she muttered, stepping out of his warm embrace and towards the door, trying to ignore the way the rest of his sentence had made her feel even woozier. "We should go and find something to do. Hey, didn't Annabeth say that you and Leo and Jake need to work on building a fortress or something? You should go do that. I'm going to check on the pegasi – I haven't seen them in so long!" Without waiting for a response, she left the cabin, leaving him standing alone wondering how he managed to ever get her to reciprocate his feelings for her.**

 **He had just turned around to shadow-travel away again when a small hand slid into his. Turning his head towards her, Carter gave him a pat on the back and a blushing smile before leaving the cabin once again. And this time Nico was the one with a fuzzy head.**

 **The sun warmed Carter's face and made her feel instantly better. With a spring in her step, she entered the stables and walked straight into someone else.**

 **"Sorry," Carter said, stepping back to regain her balance. She promptly lost it again as the person she had walked into barreled straight into her, hugging her so hard she nearly fell over.**

 **"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Jessie squealed, finally unwinding her arms and grinning widely into Carter's face. "Hi!"**

 **"Hey! Oh my gosh it really does feel like too long! How are you?" Carter smirked suddenly. "And how are you and Leo?"**

 **Tossing her flaming hair back, Jessie smiled even more widely. "Wonderful, but you aren't getting any details from me in a stable. Come on, we should go somewhere else."**

 **"Where?"**

 **"You'll see." Jessie ran outside, but slowed down almost immediately when she remembered that although her friend looked much better, she was still in danger of succumbing to the vestiges of her wounds. Those broken ribs had healed during the night, and Jessie suspected that Nico had smuggled in the Golden Fleece to help (but she wasn't one to blab).**

 **The girls stopped outside Cabin Nine.**

 **"Jessie," Carter said quietly, "Isn't this the Hephaestus cabin?"**

 **"Yup."**

 **"So what are we doing here?"**

 **"We are going to talk. Trust me, besides your boyfriend's pad, Leo's is probably one of the most secure places here. It's amazing, and he's given me a key. I can't wait to show you – come on already!"**

 **They opened the door and entered the empty cabin, which appeared relatively normal from the inside, although there were tools and weapons all over the place. Carter walked over to one of the largest beds and tapped a short rhythm out on the bedpost.**

 **"Sit down," she ordered, seating herself on the bed and pulling Carter down next to her. Seconds later, the bed sank into the floor and took them into a chamber hidden underneath the floor of the cabin.**

 **"Wow," Carter whispered, looking around. The room was comfortable, with a couple chairs, a desk littered with screwdrivers, nails, wires, hammers, and other tools. A large table took up most of the space, and it was covered with designs, drawings, more tools, a couple small machines whose use she couldn't guess, and…**

 **"Nico was here," Carter said suddenly.**

 **Jessie raised her eyebrows. "What?"**

 **Carter walked over to the table and picked up the black knife that had been lying on one of the designs. "This is one of his knives," she said. "But he doesn't really leave them lying around, because they're…dangerous," she finished quickly, dropping it back onto the table.**

 **"Screw it," Jessie decided. "Isn't this place amazing? Sit back down – I'll show you the TV." She pressed the corner of the nightstand and the wall shifted to reveal a large plasma TV with a cabinet full of DVDs beneath it.**

 **"I like it in here," Carter smiled, crossing her legs and tugging at the hem of her denim shorts. "It's cool. Is there a popcorn machine in here too?"**

 **"Yeah, but it makes you choose a movie to watch first."**

 **"You didn't really have anything to say, did you? You just wanted to show me this." Carter grinned at Jessie as the latter nodded abashedly. "It's cool – let's watch a movie, then."**

 **"How about…uhhh…"**

 **"Titanic!"**

 **"Sure, but don't you hate the ending? It makes me feel a little upset every time."**

 **"I've never seen it, so…"**

 **Jessie's eyebrows practically jumped off her face. "How have you never seen it? It's such a fantastic movie. Hey, TV! Titanic, please, and popcorn with butter and salt."**

 **Moments later spidery arms popped out of the wall and deposited a large tub of popcorn on the bed behind Jessie. The TV blinked to life as the lights dimmed and the movie began, speakers popping out all around the room.**

 **The girls were so engrossed in the movie that they didn't notice the door open half an hour later.**

 **"Hey, Jessie! Can you come out for a sec? We need you to help look over some of our equipment – we don't have enough people who know what they're doing." Will had to nearly shout to be heard over the movie, but Jessie nodded and stood up.**

 **"I'll be back in a moment," she said. "Are the weapons holding up against Tyson?"**

 **The door closed behind them as their voices faded away, but it opened again a few minutes later.**

 **"Hi, Chase," Carter said as the son of Hermes entered.**

 **"Hey," he replied, seating himself on the bed next to her and ignoring the way she shifted slightly away as he positioned himself too close for comfort.**

 **Feeling uncomfortable as he began staring at her, Carter got up off the bed, picked up Nico's knife, and walked to the door. "I think I'll give this back to Nico," she said, "I'll see you around, okay?"**

 **"Wait!" Chase came quickly to where she was standing. "I need to tell you something important."**

 **"Mhm?" She looked away from him for a moment, and that was a mistake. Seconds later he had pushed her up against the door, pinning her hands to the wood behind her with his own, lowering his head at an alarming rate towards her face.**

 **"What are you doing? Chase!" Panicking for a few seconds, she jerked her head to the side, almost, yet, his lips so gracefully smoothed against hers. She knew she couldn't be doing this, she lifted her left leg and it plummeted into Chase's stomach. She had succeeded.**

 **As his grip loosened ever so slightly, she jerked away from him and ran, a few tears trailing down her cheeks as the pain in her wrists flared up again. Fleeing the empty cabin, she somehow made it back to her own. As she burst through the door, she walked straight into a muscular abdomen. It was Nico, and Percy and Annabeth were standing slightly behind him.**

 **"Carter, what happened?" Annabeth shoved Nico aside and hugged the younger girl tightly.**

 **"Chase," Carter sniffled, wiping her eyes and standing back. "He kissed me."**

 **Nico's face darkened. "Really? First he almost kills you, now he kisses you? Is this some sorta sick apology?!"**

 **Carter sighed. "I got away, but he did. I just didn't think he'd try something like that."**

 **"Well, you're staying with one of us at all times from now on, okay?" Percy rubbed his eyes. "How come everything happens to you,Carter? Everyone must be under a love spell, and you're the victim" Percy Chuckled**

 **"I don't know," she snapped, "And I don't need to be babied. I can take care of myself, okay? And we have bigger problems. Where's Tyson? And are the pegasi prepped? I was interrupted before I could figure out how they're doing. And what about that fortress thing that Nico and –"**

 **"Shush already," Annabeth laughed. "We've got it covered, and it would be nice if you could help with the pegasi, because except for Percy, none of us are that good with them. And if you want to check on Nico, Leo, and Jake's progress later, you're welcome to."**

 **"Stay here, okay, Carter?" Nico said in a low voice. "I need to pay someone a visit." And before she could protest, he was out the door, a barely suppressed storm of fury swirling in his dark eyes.**

 **A/N: Yes, I know I seem to be stalling with the plot a little, but honestly I really kind of seem to like writing fluff and all that. But I apologize for the pathetically short chapters, i'll TRY to make them longer! Anyway, R &R! Writing In BOLD is FUN!**


	20. Here you Go, Chapter 22

A/N: THANK YOU! That's what I wanted to say – thank you everyone for being so sweet and patient while I finished my "work". I really appreciate all the good wishes I got from all of you, and I hope you guys have had a great couple weeks. I also apologize for the long wait you had to endure because of me, and I now have a chapter to give you all. So please enjoy, and I will see you at the bottom. Love you guys!

Chapter 21

Hoping that Nico wasn't planning to get himself or Chase into too much trouble, Carter went back to the stables, figuring that Jessie would forgive her for not wanting to finish the movie just yet. Being with the pegasi always calmed her down – somehow it made her feel closer to her father, and that in turn gave her the feeling that ultimately, everything would be okay.

Rubbing Blackjack's muzzle, she slipped a cube of sugar between his teeth. "Hi, Blackjack, how's it going?"

He snorted, bumped his head against her hand, and retreated. Somehow, he never talked to her much – according to Percy, Blackjack was girl-shy. Whatever. Smiling, she moved on to the others, feeding them candy or sugar and making small talk. Her smile faded slightly when she got to the last pegasus, whose name was Cupcake. She was new – the Iris cabin had found her a few months ago, before Carter had arrived at camp, but so far no one had been able to ride her, not even Percy. Cupcake refused to communicate with any of them, maintaining a stubborn silence at all times.

Carter placed her hand on the white pegasus' mane and guided her out into the sunshine, hoping that the beautiful weather might soften the pegasus some. "Have you been out in a while?" she asked, not really expecting an answer, and not surprised when she didn't get one. Eyeing the fluffy white clouds in the sky, she quickly hoisted herself onto Cupcake's back, careful to keep her feet away from the beautiful white and gray wings spreading from her back.

What are you doing? Cupcake's voice sounded in Carter's head for the first time, sounding shocked. Carter realized with a shock that this must be Cupcake's first time with a human on her back.

I thought we should go for a ride, Carter Replied, using their telepathic connection. The weather looks nice, and there are enough clouds to hide us if we need to. Shall we?

The pegasus whinnied. Fine, but if you fall off, it's not my fault. I haven't done this before – I grew up in the Himalayas, okay? And don't ask how I got here, because it's a long story that I don't feel like going into. But I've had some bad experiences with humans – there's a reason I avoid you guys.

Before Carter could respond, Cupcake broke into a fast gallop, and moments later unfurled her wings and took them into the air. She was a smooth flier, her wings taking advantage of even the smallest updrafts so that she didn't have to strain unnecessarily to gain altitude. They broke through the first layer of clouds, Cupcake staying low enough that they could watch the camp pass by underneath them through a cottony layer of cloud.

It's beautiful, Carter Breathed, and she felt Cupcake's agreement and awe through their link. Patting Cupcake's neck, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around it. Thank you.

Thank me later. I want to try something more interesting first.

Without warning, Cupcake launched into a series of dizzying loops and twirls, giving vent to her acrobatic side as the spiraled through the sky. Angling into a steep dive, Cupcake folded her wings against her sides as Carter screamed as if she were sitting on a rollercoaster. Just before they crashed, Cupcake pulled up out of the dive, taking them back up into the sky.

Had fun? Cupcake turned her head and snorted with amusement when she saw Carter sitting, shell-shocked, on her back, her dark hair all over her face due to the wind and speed.

Warn me next time.

After flying for another half hour, according to Carter's wristwatch, they decided to return to camp. Cupcake nuzzled the girl before returning to her stall, accepting a couple cubes of sugar as well.

Feeling much better about her previously rotten day, Carter skipped to Nico's cabin to see what he was up to. Walking in, she took one look at him and gasped. "Nico, what happened to you?"

"Nothing," he muttered. There was a thin line of blood streaming from the corner of his mouth, and there was a dark purple bruise on his left cheek.

"Does it hurt? Come here." Pulling him close, she gingerly felt the bruise. "Let me put something on it. Sit down, will you?" Going over to the small cabinet where he kept some basic medicinal supplies, she pulled out an ointment and began rubbing it gently onto the offending mark. "Be honest, okay, Nico? What happened to you? Did you try to attack Chase?"

Nico snorted, leaning into her touch slightly. "I didn't try to attack him – I did. You think I'm bad? He's got a broken nose and bruises everywhere." He chuckled sadistically, and Carter whacked him lightly on the side of the head.

"You idiot," she murmured fondly, kissing the side of his temple. Handing him a cloth, she said, "You have some blood near your mouth – wipe it off. Right side."

Sitting down next to him on the bed, she cuddled into his side, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.

Shifting so that he could look directly at her, Nico asked, "Are you tired?"

"No, why?"

"I wanted to show you how to set up a shield for yourself. I'll teach Percy afterwards and see if he and Thalia are compatible enough to work together. They're stronger if you combine."

She sat up, smiling brightly. "Okay, go ahead. I'm paying attention."

"Basic background first. In case you haven't noticed, we Big Three kids are the most powerful demigods there are. So we more of our characteristics and abilities are similar to the gods – if you take away the immortality aspect, the strongest of us are virtually minor gods. If we combine our resources – build our shields together, for example – we become more powerful.

"The gods are capable of using the energy inside of them directly; they don't have to change it into another form or even use a medium to control it. For example, my father is famous for blasting things with black balls of energy – he doesn't create fireballs or anything else. He just uses the energy and power he has to turn things into puddles of…stuff."

"So you're saying that we're capable of doing that too?"

"Yeah."

"Really?"

Nico opened his palm and allowed a small sphere of black energy to dance on it. The black ball had occasional flashes of something that looked suspiciously like lightning running through it, and it hummed softly.

"Wow," Carter breathed, reaching out to poke it with a finger. Nico curled his fingers around her hand, stopping it.

"Don't touch it yet," he warned. "The energy is personalized – unless we've worked together on something like this once before, my body will see you as an enemy regardless of what you really are. If you touch this now, it will attack you. Wait until we've collaborated before trying, okay?"

"So how do you do it?"

"You have to tap the energy reserve inside your body to do it – and if you're near the ocean or something that you can draw power from, use that too."

Carter slapped his shoulder. "I figured that much out, genius boy. I mean how do you do that?"

"Uhhh…I don't know." He ducked as she aimed for his head this time. "I really don't know! The first time I did it was an accident – I was in danger and desperate and terrified and it just sort of happened."

"So I should go annoy Zeus, wait for him to aim a lightning bolt at me, and then hope it works?"

"Bad idea. Crazy bad idea."

Carter raised her eyebrows, more than a little irritated. "So you have no idea how to actually help me figure out how to do this?"

Rubbing his forehead, Nico sighed. "Would you let me inside your head? I can break the barrier between your mind and your magic if you do, and once it's been done before, you'll be able to find it and break it on your own."

She just looked at him with her big aquamarine eyes.

"It won't hurt, I promise, and I'll be in and out of your mind."

"Do it quickly," she whispered, closing her eyes and pushing her face into his shoulder. Moments later she felt a presence brushing lightly over her mind, and then, suddenly, she felt something snap deep within her. Nico withdrew from her mind as a wave of energy and power flooded her veins, making her feel more alive than ever.

"Wow," she breathed, opening her eyes again. "This feels fantastic."

"Now channel it," he instructed. "It's inside you, and it probably feels like it's all over the place. Choose a hand – I use my right – but be careful, because you can't change it. Concentrate on taking that energy, sending it through your palm, and try to stop it an inch away from your skin."

Carter focused, and seconds later a turquoise ball of energy shot from her hand but didn't stop. Nico yelped and ducked as it barreled towards his head, winding up on the floor.

"Sorry!" Carter grabbed his hand and pulled him back up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Carter" he laughed. "I was expecting that – it's okay. I blew a crater in the ground my first time. Thankfully, it was in Hawaii, so I don't think anyone would really notice. And it wasn't too big. But not bad," he nodded. "Now, to shield yourself, try the same thing, except you want to protect yourself, not blast your boyfriend into a puddle. It should look like this." His eyes darkened as the power filled his veins, and a transparent black shield suddenly expanded in a sphere around his body.

Carter tried to punch him, and found that the shield repelled her hand – it didn't hurt her, but she couldn't penetrate it. "This is incredibly cool," she giggled excitedly. "Okay, let me try."

After a few failed attempts, she managed to get a bubble around herself, but when Nico dropped his shield and poked hers with a finger, it collapsed.

"Oh, come on!"

Nico chuckled. "It's okay. You'll need some practice, but it'll improve quickly once you get used to maintaining it. All you need to do is keep your focus – so the less distracted you are, the better."

"So you want to use these to put a defensive wall around the camp?"

"Yeah, if Percy and Thalia can pull this off too. I'll show them how to do it later, and then we need to practice combining. Work on yours tonight, okay? Tomorrow we'll start doing them together – we don't have much time left. Hopefully Annabeth can get the rest of camp organized and prepared."

"They'll be fine. Clarisse is on it too, and so is Jessie. Between the three of them, the enemy won't stand a chance." Carter laughed. "I don't think they even need us, really."

Nico cracked a smile. "Well, I don't know about you, but I plan on sticking around. Who cares if they need us or not?"

While the two laughed and cuddled into each other, Zeus watched from his palace on Mount Olympus, his lip curling with barely suppressed rage. He sent a message to all the Olympians, including Hades, ordering them to come to Olympus for an emergency meeting. These kids were going to pay – demigods or not. There was a reason no demigod was ever told of their magical abilities.

A/N: Sorry it's a little short! Again, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING FOR SO LONG! Please read and review!


	21. Chapter 23

Chapter 22

Watching the setting sun's last rays filter through the treetops, Carter swished her bare feet gently in the stream running through the woods. She was getting pretty good at creating shields with her own energy, although she discovered that maintaining it for over an hour was an excellent way to drain herself of all her energy. Falling asleep on the spot, she'd woken up next to the stream, which was where she had decided to remain.

Nico had cornered her brother and Thalia in the afternoon, and she had heard Percy cursing loudly when it took him nearly half an hour to produce a shield. Thalia, of course, managed hers perfectly in less than a minute. Carter didn't like her for some reason – Percy had just laughed and told her that there was nothing to worry about, Thalia was a wonderful person, and it was just Poseidon's somewhat unfriendly history with Zeus that was making her feel antagonistic. But she couldn't shake the feeling that Thalia didn't like her much either, and that she didn't approve of Nico as well.

Waving at a naiad who smiled at her as she drifted past, Carter plucked a blade of grass and began shredding it in her hands. They didn't have much time left, she knew, but somehow she wasn't afraid of the fight that was coming to them. Hearing footsteps behind her, she stiffened, sliding a hand to rest on the hilt of the blade strapped to the belt around her hips. Curling her fingers around the cool metal, she stopped herself when she recognized the quiet but steady tread.

Moments later, Nico settled himself down next to her, resting his elbow on one knee. Tey remained silent, but his arm slipped around her waist and she snuggled into his side.

"How long have you been here?" Nico asked.

"A while," she mumbled. "Did I miss dinner?"

"You sure did," he chuckled, passing her a sandwich. "I thought I'd grab something for you since you weren't there."

"Thanks," she said, and they were quiet again until she had finished it. "How are they coming with the Cyclopes?"

Nico sighed. "They're getting better, but Tyson and his buddies can crush most of them whenever they want to. Clarisse is the best, just because she's willing to destroy everything in her path to get what she wants."

Carter laughed, her mind conjuring an image of Clarisse blasting the camp to pieces to find a scarf. "Well, she's a daughter of Ares. I suppose you can't expect much more."

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about, too," Nico muttered, twisting the hem of his black button-down shirt in his hands. He was pulling down on it slightly, and the five buttons he had left open at the top gave Carter a tantalizing view of his collarbone and the top of his chest, Carter bit her tongue to refrain from moaning.

"Yes?" Her voice came out breathier than she had intended, and Carter winced internally, fighting to keep the blush off her face. Of course it didn't work.

Nico smirked, what would have been an award-winning facial expression had there actually been a contest for it. "Yeah," he said, and the smirk slipped off his lips like water. "My dad talked to me earlier, and Zeus called a council on Olympus because of us. It seems he's incredibly pissed off because demigods aren't supposed to be able to create shields – it gives us the ability to actually use our powers to a greater extent, and as of right now, Hades and Poseidon combined have more children than Zeus does. Balance of power problem for him."

"So are we not allowed to use them anymore? Because it looks like it could be really useful, and I don't think –"

"The first rule of being a demigod," Nico interrupted, shushing His girlfriend by putting his finger on her lips, "Is to disregard anything that comes out of Zeus' mouth. He very rarely says anything worth listening to – the last time was probably millennia ago. We aren't going to stop using them unless he makes it a serious issue. I just wanted to warn you that he isn't too happy about it, and if you aren't comfortable doing it anyway then you shouldn't. Because if we make him irritated enough, he might try to blast us into bits."

"Then we'll get blasted into bits together," She decided, putting her arms around his narrow waist and pulling him even closer to her. Putting one hand into his hair, she gently guided his head down until she could press her lips to his. For a little while, he allowed her to control the kiss, and she kept it chaste, sweet, loving. But then Nico turned his body so that they were facing each other properly, and he stood up, his hands on her hip and behind her neck to maintain their connection.

Then he began to increase the intensity of the kiss, deepening it simultaneously. She was bent backwards, his hand on her lower back to support her as the other knotted itself in her hair. Carter could barely breathe, her head spinning as she returned the kiss with equal intensity. Moaning as he nibbled lightly on her lower lip, she raked her hands through his silky hair, loving the feel of it. She was sure he'd washed it twice that day, just for her balance of silkiness.

The overpowering need for oxygen made Her break the kiss, gasping for breath the moment her mouth left his. Nico gave her a few seconds to recover and then reeled her in again, lowering his head to hers once more. He smiled against her mouth when her knees gave way and she tightened her grip on his shoulders to keep herself upright. But he found himself groaning when she bit his lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to heighten the intensity of the most fantastic feelings he had ever had in his life.

"What are you two doing?"

Recognizing Percy's voice, Nico rolled his eyes under his closed lids, refusing to break the kiss. But Carter had nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her brother, and she escaped his mouth with ease. Try as she might, though, Carter couldn't get Nico's insanely tight hold around her waist to loosen, so she just twisted in his arms so she could face Percy, her back to her boyfriend's chest.

"Hi," she said.

Percy frowned. He had been trying to find Juniper so he could ask her to make sure all the dryads and nymphs were prepared and raring to kick some monster butt, but instead he had found his sister and Nico passionately making out. Remembering a lecture Annabeth had given him at knifepoint about leaving the couple alone, he had been turning to leave when Nico had emitted a deep-throated groan, nearly a growl, and he had snapped. Carter's greeting had only made his mood worse – her breathless, dreamy tone was not something he had wanted to hear.

"Carter, come help me find Juniper, will you?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her arm and dragged her away from Nico, ignoring the angry twist of her mouth and her flashing eyes.

"See you guys," Nico called out, his voice laced with hints of amusement. She threw him a glare before wrenching her arm out of Percy's grasp.

"Here's Juniper's tree," she snapped, pointing. Her eyes were the color of the sea during a storm, reflecting both anger and the stars – the picture of girlish fury, Percy thought, if you ignored the lips that were glossy pink and slightly swollen from an extremely smitten boyfriend's kiss. "And if you want to talk to her, I suggest you camp out here tonight and wait. Good night."

She stomped off in a huff, and Percy rolled his eyes. She'd recover by the next morning, he knew. The roar of the sea reverberated against his ears as he waited for Juniper, reflecting the anger he had felt when walking in on the two. He knew it was maybe a little unreasonable for him to expect them to keep their hands off each other when they were clearly infatuated with each other, but Nico's groan had made him want to stop them. Carter was his little sister – it was natural for him to be overprotective, right? Right.

Meanwhile, Carter's anger had worn off by the time she reached the cabins. Percy only wanted to protect her, and technically he had the right to feel that way, since her father was…otherwise occupied.

She stopped by the door of the Apollo cabin, hesitated, and then opened it and slipped inside quickly before the booming sounds could irritate the other cabins. Once inside, she laughed – she couldn't help it.

Jessie and Will were dancing on opposing bunk beds, Will ducking his head every now and then to avoid hitting the ceiling. Some of their siblings had hooked up electric guitars to their amps, and were playing rock sounds as loudly as they could. Two girls and one guy were all sharing a microphone, belting out the lyrics perfectly, hitting every note and adding a few of their own – in the correct key, of course. A drum set, complete with a drummer who was shaking his head to the beat hard enough to send his hair flying, was next to a keyboard, manned by a daughter of Apollo who had a cute little ponytail sticking vertically up on top of her head.

I love this cabin, Carter thought as she watched them all. "Jess!" She smiled and waved as Jessie noticed her, screamed out a hello that was lost in the din, and then lost her balance and collapsed on the bunk. Laughing, she climbed down the ladder and bounced over to meet her friend after sliding her feet into a pair of fluffy slippers.

"Hi!" Jessie eyed Carter for a moment and then gave her a smirk worthy of Nico. "Were you and Nico making out again?"

Carter blushed. "How can you tell?"

"Your lips are all swollen, sweetie. You look the way I do if Leo has been more…enthusiastic than usual." She giggled and then yelped and ducked as a guitar pick came whizzing out of nowhere. "Watch it, blockheads!" she yelled to the room in general, then waved to everyone and left, taking Carter outside with her.

"I love the way you guys are always so relaxed," Carter commented. "It seems so nice to have a cabin full of loud, fun people to go home to."

"Don't feel bad because you only have Percy, okay?" Jessie snorted. "I'd love to trade you – he seems like he'd be a fantastic brother."

"He is! It's just that sometimes it gets a little lonely, you know? It's just the two of us, and when I come by your cabin it's always so full of life and energy."

"Yeah, and every night there are projectiles flying all over the place when someone loses a guitar pick, a drumstick, or even a guitar. We can get pretty crazy, and we do it a lot. The only really really good parts about being children of Apollo are the projectile talents, music, and being able to curse everyone else to speak in awful poetry if you don't like them."

Carter laughed. "Well, that sounds pretty good to me."

"Yeah, but we don't get the hot Hades guy running after us with a lovestruck look on his face, do we?"

"No, but you got the super-genius of a blacksmith who can wield fire and crack funny jokes randomly – and he is kinda cute, if you don't mind me saying so."

"Of course I don't! I completely agree, and besides, I think we're good enough friends that you can tell me my boyfriend is cute without my having to worry about you trying to steal him. Besides, didn't we already establish that yours is incredibly hot? Although more than a little scary?"

"He is not scary," Carter protested. "He's a really sweet guy."

Jessie raised her eyebrows. "He is by far the scariest guy I have ever met. Maybe you didn't notice,Carter, but he kinda has this aura of death around him wherever he goes. It doesn't really give you a warm fuzzy feeling when he comes near, you know?"

"Well, he is the son of Hades, what do you expect? But just because he can run around killing people every time he gets annoyed doesn't mean he will. You have to realize that he's just another guy too – someone who has feelings and all that. It's just that it's a little more dangerous to annoy him than, say, Will. Not that Will's a softie or anything, but –"

"I get you," Jessie giggled, "You can stop rambling now." Her face sobered. "You wanted to know how everyone's getting along with monster training, right?"

Carter nodded.

"It's going okay," Jessie sighed. "Most people here are decent fighters, and of course you know we have some exceptional ones. The problem is that so many are very very new to all this. They don't have an actual monster-fighting background, and I'm worried that when we need them to be ready, they'll just panic at the sight of a real, fire-breathing and bloodthirsty monster and forget what they already know."

"I hope that doesn't happen," She mumbled, "Because we are going to go straight from the frying pan into the fire if we can't make this work."

"I was thinking of sending a battalion up into the sky on pegasi to shoot the enemy down," Jessie said. "How's your archery? I think you and I need to practice together some."

Carter groaned with mock-despair, and their laughter echoed gently in the night.

A/N: Thank you everyone for reviewing my last chapter! I really really really do appreciate all your feedback and your kind words. Please tell me what you think of this piece! See you all soon!


	22. Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Hades stood glaring at a rose made of diamonds that was lying on the sofa. His wife had left it there, but for once its beauty held no charm for him. As the firelight flicked across his face, he thought back to the meeting he had attended earlier on Mount Olympus…

Zeus glared around at everyone assembled, his bushy eyebrows lowered in a frightening V. Apollo was paying him no attention, too busy changing the song playing on his iPod to be alert. Ares was sharpening a knife on the edge of his throne, Dionysus was drinking purple Kool-Aid, Aphrodite was checking her mascara in a small mirror, Poseidon was yawning, Hermes was texting someone, and in general all the gods seemed bored out of their wits. Hades had chuckled to himself at the scene, keeping his face carefully devoid of emotion.

"ENOUGH!" Zeus bellowed suddenly, his temper flaring as Artemis and Athena began a conversation about something and Apollo got into a fight with Ares about the song he was listening to. "All of you just shut up! I called you here for a reason, not to give you time to…to…"

"Hang out?" Apollo suggested.

"That's such a stupid phrase," Hermes interjected. "We aren't actually hanging from anything at all, why would you say that?"

"It's what the cool kids say," Apollo smirked, his smile blindingly bright.

"That is not important," Zeus snapped, cutting in before Hermes could reply. "I know nearly all of you have been keeping tabs on those two…kids. Carter and, uh…"

"Nico di Angelo," Aphrodite said. "Come on, you can't remember their names yet? Those two are the cutest thing since Helen and Paris. Have you seen the way he looks at her? It's so sweet." Her eyes darkened suddenly as she gazed suspiciously at Zeus. "If you want us to try and break them up, I suggest you –"

"Let me finish." Zeus held up a hand, silencing her. "Those two are trying to use the energy inside their bodies to manipulate the world. They are trying to harness what mortals sometimes refer to as magic. I refuse to allow them to do so. If they –"

"Well, why not?" Athena spoke up, her gray eyes challenging the rest of the gods to interrupt her. "They are going to use their abilities to protect the camp, and since we immortals have made the decision to leave them to fight their own battles, at the very least we should help them make use of the weapons they actually have, instead of trying to hinder their every step."

"And what happens if they make a mistake? They could even end up killing themselves," Zeus said.

Hades coughed. He looked at his brother innocently, but Persephone, who had insisted on accompanying her husband there, understood him perfectly.

"You wouldn't care if they died or not," she said accusingly, staring straight at Zeus and moving surreptitiously closer to her husband just in case the king of the gods did manage to lose his temper.

"She's right," Ares interjected. "And if they do manage to pull it off, the war down there will get a lot more interesting, don't you think? I think we should just leave them alone. It's not as if they'll blow the whole world to Kingdom Come if they don't master it right away – hell, it didn't take that little girl that long to figure it out anyway.

"You have a different problem with their succeeding, don't you? It has to do with your power – with the balance of power up here. I've seen it coming for some time now, you know. Being the war god gives you insight into power struggles nearly everywhere, and this one is obvious." He smirked. "You're worried that if those two kiddos get too powerful, and since they are romantically involved with each other, their combined influence will enhance that of their parents, and Poseidon and Hades will gradually end up more powerful than you. And you're worried that this is going to end up turning into World War III."

The room exploded as the gods turned to their neighbors, discussing everything Ares had just thrown out at them. The war god himself slumped in his chair, trailing a lazy finger over the gleaming blade of his knife and watching Aphrodite from across the room.

"QUIET!" Zeus shouted, and the room again came to relative order – however temporarily. "I expect you all to try to come up with a way to preserve Olympus the way it is – do you understand me? Now leave, before my headache gets worse."

The gods trailed out of the throne room but met in the gardens, all of them looking at each other warily, not sure who they were going to back.

"Let's try not to turn this into another war, all right?" Athena said. "I'm sure this will blow over in a little while – if we try taking sides, it's going to turn messy. Now if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be. I'll see you all later." She turned into a gray owl and flew away, hooting softly before vanishing from sight.

"Well, I for one think Zeus needs to get his head screwed on straight," Aphrodite announced. "If he does anything at all to get in the way of those two, he's going to have to deal with a very angry me. Which may involve a terrible love life for him for the next couple centuries, among other things."

"Yeah, like pink everywhere. What a curse," snorted Artemis, who had never really seen eye-to-eye with Aphrodite for anything. "That boy is probably corrupting the girl's pure mind. She should be rescued from him before –"

"Before nothing," Apollo snapped. "My daughter's best friends with Carter, and she seems to think that those two are perfect for each other. And I trust her judgment – especially since my son Will agrees with her, and those two rarely agree on anything relationship-wise. And I also agree with Athena: we should leave this here. Peace!"

"Well, all I am implying is that she should Join the Hunters, Thalia and her could become GREAT friends!" Artemis gleefully spoke.

"Shut Up, 'Temis." Aphrodite Spoke.

As the two lady gods Bickered, Zeus decided he'd heard enough.

"For Poseidon's Sake! Quit acting like girls, You Two are FAMILY! And Gods, Immortal, act like it!"

As the rest of The Olympians Leaned forward, expecting an action-packed fight, Zeus decided otherwise, causing the Olympians to groan in displeasure.

(End flashback)

Footsteps broke his reverie, and he turned around quickly, relaxing when he saw his wife's slender figure approaching him through the dark hall. Persephone entered the room, looking divinely beautiful as the fire glinted off her hair and bare arms. But she had always been the one to rebuff him, to stay aloof, and now Hades masked his emotions with a slightly bored expression as he had always done, refusing to show her that even after centuries, she still affected him as strongly as she had the first time he'd seen her.

"Are you alright?" she asked softly, laying a small hand on his sleeve. When he didn't respond, she sighed, made a mental note to visit her friend Aphrodite again later, and looked back up at him. "Poseidon was here a while ago – he wanted me to tell you that he doesn't think that your son is doing anything wrong, and that if Zeus wants to turn this into an issue, then he has your back." She hesitated, and then turned to leave. "And so do I."

Hades opened his mouth, but before a word could fall from his lips, she had gone, her frame disappearing quickly into the darkness once again. And he sighed, hating the fact that he was too scared of another rejection to tell his wife that he still loved her.

Meanwhile, back at Camp Half-Blood, Carter and Jessie were poring over an assortment of weaponry at the Hephaestus cabin. Leo had shown them where the weapons were kept and had then skedaddled, saying he had to go check on the "fortifications" that Nico and Jake were supposed to be erecting with the help of the Cyclopes who were currently at camp.

"This looks wicked," Jessie laughed, lifting a huge double-handed sword. "Heads up!" She struck a fierce pose before dropping the sword suddenly. "Damn. It's too heavy."

"Well, I think –" Carter broke off as the door opened and Annabeth walked in, looking harried. "Hi Annabeth!"

Jessie frowned. "Are you okay, Annabeth? You look really worried."

"The Stoll brothers played a prank again," she sighed. "But they did it to Malcolm. He never eats almonds, and they thought that he hates the taste – they didn't realize he's allergic. They managed to slip a bunch of them into something he ate earlier today, and he had an awful reaction. He's okay now, but over half my cabin is out for their blood right now."

"That's horrible! I'm so sorry," Jessie and Carter said together. They looked at each other and smiled.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Carter asked, and froze when she heard loud shouts coming from outside. The three girls flung the door open, racing outside with swords in their hands – or a bow, in Jessie's case.

A huge crowd had gathered in the middle of the camp, outside the Athena cabin. One of Annabeth's other siblings, a well-built guy whose name Carter vaguely remembered to be David, was shouting at Connor and Travis, who were yelling back at him. All three were brandishing swords, and several other Athena campers were standing behind David, eyeing the brothers angrily and shouting about how they had nearly killed their deputy counselor.

"Guys! Calm down!" Annabeth called out, but they all ignored her. The door of the Hermes cabin slammed open, and all the campers inside it came running out, waving a strange assortment of weapons in the air. Some carried baseball bats, others had proper swords or knives, and one camper was holding a hockey stick in his hand.

Jessie sucked in her breath. "I'm going to go get Chiron," she said. "This looks like it's going to get ugly fast. See you!" And she sprinted off, her red hair rippling down her back as she ran.

Carter and Annabeth raced towards the crowd, pushing their way through to the middle. Thankfully, no one had attacked yet, although the atmosphere was dangerously tense. The shouting hadn't ceased, when someone else pushed through from behind David.

The new girl was one who Carter had often seen Annabeth talking to – another daughter of Athena, who was seventeen years old – around two years younger than Connor, Carter guessed. She was strikingly pretty, her brown hair having natural caramel highlights in it that gleamed every time the sun struck them, and her chocolate brown eyes, although normally cheerful, were narrowed at her brother. She began talking to him earnestly but quietly, and Carter, glancing over at Annabeth, noticed an approving smile on the older girl's face.

Confused, she continued to watch the new arrival, whose name she suddenly remembered to be Isabelle. The girl was wearing yoga pants with a baggy Harvard sweatshirt, and she carried a newspaper page about a water polo game in one hand. The other, Carter noticed with amusement, was tightly clutching a long sword in a way that told her that the girl was an experienced (or at the very least talented) fighter. She was also quite tall – taller than David and only a few inches shorter than the insanely tall Connor, who was standing quite closer to the siblings.

"Are you crazy?" David shouted suddenly, loudly enough that Carter could hear him over the din. Annabeth made a movement next to her, and Carter realized that she was now gripping her knife tightly.

Isabelle said something else to David, growing more animated in her movements and speech as David's expression grew stormier. She poked him in the chest suddenly, her expression upset but her words still inaudible.

Whirling around, Isabelle walked straight up to Connor and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling one hand in his messy brown hair and pulling his head down slightly so she could reach him. Their lips met, and silence fell on all the campers assembled there. Connor was returning Isabelle's kiss eagerly, with a passion that Lily hadn't expected to see in the prankster. He was sliding his fingers through the braid her hair was tied in, wrapping his other arm around her waist and pressing her body into his. He deepened the kiss suddenly and Carter heard a few girls behind her gasp as Isabelle moaned audibly, their opened lips moving constantly. Carter risked a glance at David and fought the temptation to laugh – his mouth was open in a perfect "O" as he watched his sister making out with the young man he had wanted to attack moments ago.

"What is going on?" Percy shoved his way through the crowd, followed by Nico and Jessie.

"I couldn't find Chiron," Jessie announced to no one in particular, "So I thought I'd bring these two in case things got messy."

"Well, it just got a little…heated," Annabeth answered, gesturing to the still intertwined couple with a small smile. "They've been going out for a while, but she never really told anyone but me because she wasn't sure how all our brainy siblings would take the news that she was in love with a joker."

Percy's eyebrows traveled steadily up his face as he watched them for a few seconds. He then turned to Nico. "How about you deal with it?"

Nico sighed and stepped forward so that he was standing next to Carter. "Hey, Connor!"

Connor lifted his head from his girlfriend's and tilted his head slightly. "What?"

"Hold her tighter, buddy, she's practically a foot away from you!"

Grinning at Nico, Connor grabbed Isabelle and pulled her even closer to him, if that was even possible. He then kissed her again, earning aww's from many of the girls.

"That wasn't what I meant, Nico," Percy said, fighting the urge to laugh at his friend. "What was that? I thought you were going to rip him off her or something."

"Nah," Nico replied. "We're friends, me and Connor. He tried to prank me once, I caught him, we both nearly got eaten by a hellhound sneaking up on us, and we wound up being friends after all that. And anyway, the rest of the gang left, didn't they?"

Sure enough, the other campers had all dispersed, some disappointedly, going back to preparing for the upcoming battle.

Connor and Isabelle finally broke apart for air, and Isabelle blushed when she noticed everyone still staring.

"Hi?" Her voice was quiet, but tinged with amusement, and in seconds all of them were laughing as they hadn't in days, the tension of an upcoming battle and their own little dramas falling away.

"That's all you could think of?" Jessie asked in between gasps, bending over and clutching at a stitch in her side. "Hi? Really?"

"That was beautiful, Nico," Connor chuckled, his blue eyes reflecting the sky above. "Really beautiful. Did you see the look on David's face when you said that? I thought he couldn't decide who to kill first – you or me."

"Definitely you," Nico laughed. "He wouldn't have even a hope of a chance with me."

"That's modest," Carter chided, nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. "You're not such a skilled fighter, you're only kind of good. You just got lucky because your dad is so powerful."

"Really?" Nico asked, tickling her sides suddenly. "Am I really unskilled? Huh?"

Letting loose a loud war cry as Carter shrieked with laughter and begged for mercy, Jessie tackled Nico from behind. "Get off my friend!"

Percy dove in to help her, and moments later they were all on the ground, breathless with laughing.

Annabeth recovered first. "Okay, everyone get up," she ordered. "Percy, you come with me. We're going to go see just what kind of fortifications Nico and those other two managed to put up around us. Carter, Jessie, and Isabelle, you three should go see if Clarisse needs any help. She's managing the organization of who's going to be where when the storm hits. Nico, can you and Connor, uh…"

"We'll find something to do," Connor grinned. "Come on, di Angelo. We gots to find something to do."

Annabeth groaned. "I shouldn't have paired them together, should I?"

"Relax," Nico advised her. "I'll give you my word – we'll do our best not to burn down the Athena cabin, okay?" Chuckling, he kissed Carter quickly, ignoring Percy's nauseated expression, and they split up, feeling ready to take on the world.

A/N: PLEASE EXCUSE THE CHEESY LAST LINE! I couldn't think of any way to end it. Please R&R! Love you guys! :D


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